


You're Kidding, Right?

by Despy



Category: American Actor RPF, Norman Reedus - Fandom, The Boondock Saints RPF, The Walking Dead RPF
Genre: Adoption, F/M, Fanfiction, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-13 20:24:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 33,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5715910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Despy/pseuds/Despy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riley Spencer had just finished college with her teaching degree when she finds out the most important person in her life, 10 year old Oliver Reed is moving away. On a spur of the moment decision she decides to pack up her life and follow him and his family to New York City. </p>
<p>Trying to juggle responsibilities, career choices, and false accusations, Riley has a lot on her plate! What happens when she bumps into a certain Hollywood big shot who proceeds to turn her life upside down?</p>
<p>(Please comment and tell me what you think! I'm not sure about this story yet so I'd like to get some opinions)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

So I had an idea and wanted to see where it would go before I forgot it, so this is where it lead. 

I'm not sure about this story yet so I'd love to hear what anyone thinks about it before I pour a bunch of time into this. Please comment and tell me what you think.

~•~•~•~


	2. Anything For Oli

I pulled my car into the driveway of the beautiful two story house at the end of the block. Putting the car in park, I ran my hands through my hair with a sigh. This was the last visitation with Oliver before his family was supposed to move. Just thinking about not seeing his big blue eyes and crooked smile anymore made a lump form in my throat. The whole reason I decided on an open adoption was because I couldn't stand the thought of never seeing him again. 

I took a few calming breaths before pushing the door open and stepping out of the car, instantly being hit by the hot muggy air from a recent thunderstorm. I made my way up the decorative walkway lined by colorful flowers that lead right up to the front of the house. Knocking on the door, I stepped back waiting expectantly. Hearing the sound of someone running through the house, I felt excitement well within me. The front door flew open and a small body flew out colliding against my torso, squeezing me in a tight hug. 

"Riley!" Oliver yelled in excitement. 

"Oli!" I replied with equal enthusiasm. 

Oliver released his hold on me, snatching my hand and dragging me into the house with him. 

"Momma! Riley's here!" he yelled excitedly. 

"Oh Riley! I'm so glad you could make it!" Melissa said entering the room. 

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for anything!" I said with a smile. A sudden feeling sadness crept over me as my smile faltered for a moment. 

"Riley! Wanna come play with me?" Oliver asked holding a couple of video game controllers. 

"I was actually wondering if I could talk to her for just a minute" Melissa said looking at Oliver then back at me. 

"Okay" he sighed. "But hurry, ok! I wanna play with Riley!" he said before turning and rifling through a stack of games. 

Melissa lead me into the dining room where her husband Don was sitting at the table reading a newspaper. Melissa took the seat next to her husband and I sat across the table from them watching them carefully. My mind was instantly running through all the possibilities of what they could want to talk to me about. What if they wanted to close the adoption? They were moving all the way to New York City in just a few days, I would probably never be able to see Oliver again, maybe they just wanted to tie up the loose ends. I began to feel panic rise in my throat at the thought of signing away the last thing I had left as Oliver's biological mother. 

Don cleared his throat yanking me out of my thoughts, my full attention on them as they seemed to be thinking over what they were going to say carefully. 

"Riley" Don said with a steady voice "We were thinking about the move to New York. We know it is going to be hard on Oliver, its going to be a completely different world for him up there." He said rubbing the back of his neck. 

"What Don is trying to say" Melissa spoke up "Is that we have been talking, and we think it'll make the adjustment easier for Oliver if we kept things as familiar as possible." 

"Wait? I'm confused..." I said furrowing my brows. 

"We think it'll be in Oliver's best interest if you come to New York with us." Melissa said smiling widely. 

"Seriously?!" I said bursting with excitement. 

"We know it's short notice, we'll help you out until you can get things set up for yourself." Don said smiling. 

"We just think it'll make the adjustment so much easier with you there. He loves you so much, we know if he couldn't see you anymore on top of taking him away from everything he knows, it'll just crush him." Melissa said shaking her head. 

"So, Riley, what do ya say? Would you like to move to New York with us?" Don asked. 

"Of course! I'll start packing as soon as I get home!" I said with a laugh. "Does Oli know yet?" I asked. 

"No, we wanted to talk to you first, just in case." Melissa said. "But we can tell him now" 

"Ok!" I said standing quickly and nearly sprinting to the living room. I had never been so excited in my life, I felt like the smile would never leave my face. 

"Oli!" I said excitedly as I burst into the living room. 

"What?" he said looking at me like I had grown a second head. 

"Guess what? I'm moving to New York with you!" I said excitedly. 

"Really?" He asked in disbelief. 

"Yep! Looks like you're stuck with me kid!" I laughed. 

"Yes!" he exclaimed rushing over and crushing me in a tight hug. "This is gonna be awesome!" he said releasing me. 

"You bet it is!" I said ruffling his hair. "Now, how about that video game!" I said plopping down on the floor in front of the TV. 

After a few hours of video games, I had managed to convince Oliver that it was time for me to leave. I found it hard to leave him, having to keep reminding myself that I was actually going with them in a few days. I made my way down the walkway that lead to where my car was parked. Sliding into the driver's seat I quickly started the car and headed home. 

As soon as I got home I called my Dad to tell him the news. I waited anxiously, listening to the sound of the ringing. 

"Hello?" My heart dropped when my mother's voice came across the line. 

"Hey, mom." I said uneasily. "Is Dad with you? I have some news" 

"He's right here, Riley. What's going on?" she asked 

"I'm moving to New York!" I said with excitement. 

"What?!" My mother nearly yelled. 

"Melissa and Don think it would be better for Oliver to have a familiar face around." I said. 

"That's great honey" I heard my father's voice in the back ground. 

"Hold on a minute!" my mother cut in "So, these people ask you out of the blue to just pack up and move thousands of miles away with them, and you said yes?" she asked incredulously. 

"Well, yea. I'm not tied down here, the only thing keeping me here was Oli" I said with a sigh. 

"Honestly, Riley. You've done some pretty stupid things in your life before, but this has to be top ten. Right behind getting pregnant at 16 and not working things out with James, that wonderful doctor you were with a few months ago. Its like you're just trying to throw your life away!" She huffed angrily. 

"Mom, I'm not throwing my life away. I know I've messed up in the past, but I tried to make the best decisions possible for Oliver. And as far as James, the lying, cheating, scumbag, I wouldn't have stayed with him even if you paid me. Besides Oli never liked him anyway." 

"Riley, do you even hear yourself? You're letting a ten year old boy dictate all of your decisions! The whole point of giving him up for adoption was so you could get on with your life! Don't you think you've drug this thing out long enough?" 

"No, Mom! The whole point of the adoption was because I couldn't give him what he needed, so I gave him to someone who could give him everything I couldn't!" I said angrily "I'm not having this argument with you again, Mom." I sighed. 

"I just don't see how this is a good idea." She said angrily "But clearly you've made your decision already, so just do whatever you want like usual" she huffed angrily. "I'll talk to you later Riley." She said, quickly hanging up the phone. 

I sighed looking down at my phone screen. Every time I talked to her it was the same fight. She never did understand why I wanted to stay in Oliver's life and she made it very clear that she didn't support my decisions. Locking my phone, I stretched my arms over my head and decided to just go to bed. First thing in the morning I'd start packing. 

-The Big Move- 

We had been driving for hours, this was day two of the trip. The drive was supposed to take about 22 hours but with stops it ended up being a few hours longer. Don was driving their car with Melissa and Oliver, and I was following behind them in my car. Oliver really wanted to ride along with me but my car was completely packed with everything I owned. They had hired a moving company to move all of their things for them and I left my furniture behind at my old apartment for my friend Kim who agreed to take over the lease for me. 

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as we pulled into the parking garage of the new apartment building. The moving company was supposed to have delivered all of Don and Melissa's things the day before so they would only need to unpack the boxes. Once we were parked I grabbed a few necessities and we all made our way up to the apartment. We stepped into the elevator, Don pressing the button for the third floor. Once the elevator doors opened we made our way down the hallway. I looked around and noticed how nice the hallway was, with expensive looking carpet and beautiful paintings decorating the walls. I knew Don made good money at his job, which is why he couldn't deny them when they wanted to transfer him to New York, but this place looked really expensive. My breath caught in my throat when I stepped into the apartment. It was a decent size with an open floorplan. It had had a modern design with beautiful hard wood floors and brand new appliances in the kitchen. It was the most beautiful apartment I had ever seen. 

"Home sweet home" Don sighed. I could see how tired he was, I was just as tired from the long day of driving. We quickly set up the beds, me taking the couch, and crashed. 

The next morning Melissa and Don got busy unpacking and I brought my things up from my car. I had made a few phone calls before we moved, setting up a few interviews with local schools for a teaching job and my first interview was this afternoon. I quickly showered and got dressed, putting on a little make up to look presentable. I pulled my hair back in a loose bun, a few shorter pieces of hair fell down around my face. I sighed looking in the mirror at how tired I looked. Maybe if I left early I would have time to stop for coffee. 

"Well don't you look lovely" Melissa said as I walked out of the bathroom. "What's the occasion?" 

"I have a job interview today at the middle school" I said grabbing my phone and wallet quickly. 

"Wow, you sure didn't waste any time" she laughed 

"Nope" I said smiling before quickly heading out the door. 

As I stepped out of the building I was met with nothing but deafening noise. Holy crap New York was loud! This was going to be a huge adjustment from my small town down in Louisiana. Looking at the gridlocked traffic, I decided it'd be quicker to just walk where I needed to go. 

I started heading down the sidewalk in the direction of the school, staring amazedly at how freaking packed the sidewalks were. There were so many people everywhere I looked, and they were so rude! At least a dozen people bumped into me, almost knocking me over and never bothered apologizing. I guess I've been spoiled to that southern hospitality or something. 

I noticed a café just ahead of me and quickly ducked inside, sighing in relief as the smell of coffee in the air instantly calmed my nerves. The only empty seats available were at the bar so I made my over and took a seat next to a guy with shaggy brown hair who was wearing sunglasses. 

"Hello there" the waitress said with a smile. 

"Hi" I said quietly. 

"You must be new here" she said with a laugh. 

"Is it that obvious?" I said with a chuckle. 

"Its written all over your face" she said smiling "Don't worry, you get used to it all" she said gesturing vaguely. "So, coffee?" she asked holding up a coffee pot. 

"Yes, please" I chuckled.

~•~•~•~

I'd love to get some opinions on this story please! :)


	3. New Beginnings

I would really appreciate some feedback on this story. Thanks! :)

~•~•~

I sighed feeling the warmth from the coffee mug on my hands. I checked my phone realizing I only had thirty minutes until my interview. I quickly paid for my coffee and stood to leave, as I turned around I bumped into the guy next to me who happened to be leaving at the same time. 

"Oops. I'm sorry!" I said turning to look at him. He was wearing boots, dark blue jeans, a black T-shirt that fit him nicely, sunglasses and a hat. 

"Its, cool" he said nodding. I looked at him again quickly thinking he looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. He was just standing there, like he was waiting for something to happen or for me to say something else. 

"Ok. Well, I gotta get going" I said grabbed my things. He seemed almost surprised as I left the café, quickly heading down the street to the school. 

After my interview I was heading back to the apartment when my phone started ringing. 

"Hello?" I answered already knowing who it was. 

"Hey, I was just checking on you" Melissa said. 

"I'm fine, on my way back now actually" I said. 

"Ok. So...?" she asked expectantly. 

"I got the job! I start Monday" I replied excitedly. "One of the English teachers is pregnant. They are going to have me as her assistant until she goes out on maternity leave, then I'll take over the class for the remainder of the year." 

"That's awesome! Congrats Riley!" She said excitedly. "Are you on your way home now?" 

"Yep, I'll be home in a few" I said before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone.

\---

Oliver and I were lounging on the couch at the apartment watching TV having a lazy Sunday. Melissa and Don came over and joined us not much later talking about some show they liked that was supposed to come on soon. 

"Do you like The Walking Dead, Riley?" Oliver asked as he changed the channel. 

"Never seen it" I said shrugging. 

"What!?" he said looking at me like I'd grown a second head. 

"I'm not really into zombie shows" I said "There are so many of them and they're all the same" 

"Not this one!" Oliver said enthusiastically "This is the best show EVER! You're gonna watch it and you're gonna LOVE it!" 

"Ok, ok!" I laughed. When I turned my attention back to the screen it was showing different cast interviews about season four. Suddenly a guy with shaggy brown hair and a familiar voice came on screen talking about crossbows and killing zombies. 

"Hey, it's that guy" I said catching everyone's attention. 

"That's Norman Reedus! He plays Daryl Dixon! He's so cool!" Oliver said excitedly. 

"Norman Reedus! I knew he looked familiar. He was in The Boondock Saints" I said "No wonder he looked so surprised, he was probably expecting me to ask for an autograph or something" I laughed remembering him from back at the café. 

"Wait, what?!" Oliver and Melissa said at the same time. 

"You met Norman Reedus?!" Oliver asked in disbelief. 

"I accidentally bumped into him at a café on Friday." I said. 

"Seriously?" Melissa asked 

"And you didn't tell us?!" Oliver asked in exasperation. 

"Well I didn't know who he was" I shrugged. 

"Uugh, Riley! It's like you live under a rock!" Oliver whined. 

"Don't be mean Oli. I promise on the slim chance of me ever running into him again, I'll get a picture or something for you." I said rolling my eyes. 

"You better!" he said seriously. "Ooh! The show is coming on!" he said turning his attention to the TV. I chuckled and shook my head at him before shifting my attention to the show. It actually wasn't bad, it really was better than all those cliché zombie movies. 

\---

I made my way down the busy street heading to the school for my first day of work as a teacher. I had gotten up early so I could shower, get ready and get there on time. I pushed my way through the crowd, the school finally in sight. 

As I entered the school, the hallways were completely packed with kids. I made my way over to the office to get information and find out where my class room is. 

"How can I help you?" the secretary asked as I stepped into the office. 

"My name is Riley Spencer. It's my first day and I came to pick up my paperwork." 

"Oh, you're the new teacher for Mrs. Dennis' class" she said. 

"Yes, that's me" I said smiling. 

"Actually, Principal Sims said he needed to talk to you before you head to your class. You can sit and wait over there, he should only be a minute" she said handing me a folder with my papers inside. 

"Ok" I said taking a seat in one of the chairs against the wall. Pulling out the stack of papers, I decided to read over them while I waited. On top was a paper that had "Mrs. Dennis, English R109" written at the top followed by seven lists with about twenty names each, probably the lists of students in each period. The next page was a map of the school, that would be handy. I scanned the map and located room 109, memorizing how to get there from the office. 

"Ms. Spencer" a voice caught my attention. I quickly put the papers away and stepped inside the principal's office shutting the door behind myself. 

"Principal Sims, its nice to meet you" I said taking a seat across the desk from him. He was a tall, serious looking man with a receding hair line. 

"It's nice to meet you as well" he said nodding "I called you here today to discuss an important matter with you before you meet your class" he said seriously. 

"Ok" I said unsurely. I had just gotten here and I was already about to get a lecture. 

"I just want to make it clear to you that this is a professional environment which requires a professional attitude" he said staring me down intimidatingly. "It is of utmost importance that we maintain a safe and comfortable learning environment for all of our students. If at any time your behavior reflects negatively on this school, you will be terminated immediately" 

"I understand" I said nodding. 

"Good" he said smiling "Good luck on your first day" he said shaking my hand. 

"Thank you" I said before standing and exiting the office. 

I made my way down the now empty hallways looking for room 109. When I found the room I knocked lightly on the door before entering. 

"Hello" a nice looking blonde lady with a big pregnant belly said. 

"Hi, I'm Riley Spencer. I'm your new teaching aid." I said as I stepped into the room. 

"Oh wonderful! Class, this is Ms. Spencer. She will be assisting me for a little while and taking over teaching the class when I have to leave" she said with a smile. 

The students began chattering amongst themselves as Mrs. Dennis showed me my desk, which was just a medium sized table with an extra chair in the corner of the room. I thanked her and sat down facing the class as she went back to her desk to resume what she was doing before I interrupted. 

"Ok, attendance" she said picking up her list and scanning through the names "Oh yes, Madeline Pruitt" she said. 

"Here" a girl with Red hair raised her hand. 

"Mingus Reedus" she said. 

"Here" a skinny boy with blonde hair sitting at the desk closest to me said raising his hand. 

I furrowed my brows trying to remember why that name sounded so familiar. 'Mingus Reedus, like Norman Reedus' I thought. Looking at him again I realized he was the spitting image of Norman. I chuckled to myself, I guess that explains the weird lecture from the principal this morning. Of course they don't want just any random crazy person in a class room with some celebrity's kid. 

"What's so funny" he quietly asked, looking over at me. 

"Nothing really, just remembering something funny that happened to me this morning." I answered just as quietly. 

"Oh yea? What?" he asked curiously. 

"I got called to the principal's office" I said chucking. 

"Seriously?" he asked looking at me like I was crazy. 

"Yep, on my first day too" I sighed dramatically. 

"You're weird" he laughed. 

"Don't be mean" I said sticking my tongue out at him. 

He laughed and we both turned our attention back to Mrs. Dennis as she began going over the lesson for the day. 

I spent most of the morning observing the class and grading papers. When lunch time came I decided to wander around and get familiar with the school. I made my way through the hallways memorizing where different things were at. I turned a corner, bumping into someone and almost knocking them over. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I said looking down to see a surprised Mingus looking back at me. 

"It's ok" he chuckled "Are you lost or something?" he asked curiously. 

"No, just exploring a little bit" I said. 

"Are you sure your not lost?" he asked raising an eyebrow skeptically. 

"Hey, have a little faith in me" I said playfully putting my hands on my hips. "It takes more than some middle school hallways to get me lost" 

"Riiiight" he laughed. "Well I'm going to the cafeteria, do you want to come with me? All my friends want to meet the new teacher, they're in the afternoon classes." 

"Sure" I said smiling. "This isn't some trick, right?" I asked teasingly. 

"Trick?" he asked. 

"Yea, you know, prank the new teacher on her first day kinda thing" I said. 

"No way" he said. 

"Better not be. Because if it is, you better watch out! I'm good at revenge pranks" I said laughing at memories of me and my brother having prank wars. 

"Really? You don't look like someone who'd do pranks" he said raising an eyebrow at me. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. 

"You look kinda prissy to be honest" he said bluntly. 

"Blasphemy!" I said dramatically. 

"You're so weird" he laughed. 

"Whatever" I said smiling as we entered the cafeteria. 

After meeting Mingus' friends I headed back to the classroom, the bell rang not long after and classes continued. I spent the rest of the day observing the class and helping Mrs. Dennis with passing out papers and whatever else she needed. 

I made my way down the hallway, it was the end of the day so I was surrounded by a sea of children. I stepped outside making my way down the steps to the sidewalk. 

"Bye Ms. Spencer!" I looked up and saw Mingus standing close to a woman dressed in expensive looking clothes. "See you tomorrow!" He yelled waving. 

"Bye Mingus!" I waved back, the woman looked over and gave me a dirty look. Deciding to ignore her I turned and headed down the sidewalk toward the apartment.


	4. "Couyon"

I plan to post a few more chapters of this story, but I'd love to have some feedback. I want to know if I should keep working on this or if I should just move on from it.

~•~•~

As I entered the apartment I was tackled in a hug by Oliver. 

"Hey, Oli" I said shutting the door behind me. "How was school?" 

"It was ok" he said he said unenthusiastically "I miss my old school" he sighed.

"Aw, Oli, it'll get better. You just have to give it a chance" I said hugging him.

"How was your school?" He asked curiously.

"It was...interesting" I chuckled.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Let's go sit down and I'll tell you" I said leading him over to the couch and taking a seat.

"Ok, tell me!" He said excitedly.

"Well, as soon as I got there I was called to the principal's office" I said.

"We're you in trouble?" he asked worriedly.

"Nah, he just wanted to explain the rules to me before I started" I said. "So after that I went to class, and guess what!" I said.

"What, what?" he asked impatiently.

"Mingus Reedus is in my first class" I said.

"Mingus Reedus, Norman Reedus' son?" he asked excitedly.

"Yep" I chuckled. "He's a pretty cool kid, I think you'd really like him." 

"That's so cool!" he said hugging me again. "Don't forget your promise Riley!" 

"Yea, yea. I know" I chuckled. "Ok, homework time!" I sang, laughing when he scrunched his nose up at me.

The rest of the week passed quickly and I fell into a comfortable routine. I'd walk to work every morning, help Ms. Dennis as she needed, chat with Mingus whenever I saw him, head home and spend my afternoons hanging out with Oliver. It was nice. 

Saturday came and Melissa and Don decided to let me take Oliver along while I was looking for an apartment. As nice as it was living in the same house as Oliver, I was tired of sleeping on a couch and I'm sure Melissa and Don would like some space.

We visited several different buildings, finding a few good options. I had applied for a couple of the ones I could afford and now I was just waiting for a phone call.

Since it was still early I decided to take Oliver out for lunch and spend the rest of the day doing whatever he wanted to do. We made our way down the sidewalk, I held his hand as we pushed our way through a crowd of people near the diner we were going into. 

We stepped inside and looked around, the place was pretty busy. There was only one booth left in the back corner of the diner and we quickly claimed it.

"So Oli, what do you want to do today?" I asked. He was sitting across from me in the booth scanning the menu.

"We should go to Central Park!" he said excitedly. "A lot of the kids in my class talk about it, I wanna go there." 

"Sounds like a plan!" a said laughing quietly. 

"What can I get you to drink?" a waitress asked us quickly.

"Two cokes please" I said looking at her.

"That all?" she said scribbling on her note pad.

"Yes" I replied. She clicked her pen and walked away without another word.

"People here are so rude" Oliver whispered across the table.

"I know, I think it's a big city thing" I said shrugging. 

We both looked down at our menus scanning the lunch specials when the waitress came back with our drinks. She set them on the table and was about to say something else when she froze looking toward the front of the diner, her eyes the size of saucers. She quickly turned and rushed to the bathroom while adjusting her clothes and mumbling about fixing her hair.

"Well that was weird" I mumbled looking back to the menu. "Hey Oli, what're you gonna ge-"

"Ms. Spencer?" a familiar voice caught my attention. I looked up from my menu and saw Mingus standing near our table and Norman standing just behind him wearing sunglasses and a hat, probably trying not to be recognized.

"Hey Mingus!" I said, smiling at the look on Oliver's face. His eyes were huge and he looked like he was in shock. "What's up" I said laughing quietly at Oliver.

"Sorry to intrude, but all the other tables are taken. I was wondering if maybe we could just share with you?" he asked looking a little nervous.

"Of course!" I said. "Oli, come sit on this side with me" I said. Oliver snapped out of his daze at the sound of his name and slid out of the booth. I quickly stood and let him into the booth first and sat down after him. Mingus slid into the opposite side followed by his dad.

"Thank you" Norman said quietly.

"No problem" I replied. "Oli, this is Mingus, he's one of my students" I said looking at Oliver and gesturing to Mingus.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Oliver Reed" Olivier said. I couldn't help but smile at how polite he was being and using his manners.

"I'm Mingus Reedus, its nice to meet you too" Mingus replied.

"Hey, our last names are almost the same!" Olivier said with a huge smile.

"Yea, your right" Mingus smiled.

"Do you like video games?" Oliver asked quickly.

"Yea! They're my favorite" Mingus said. 

The two boys quickly fell into a deep conversation about video games and I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head, of all things to be talking about right now, he chooses video games.

"So, you're Mingus' teacher?" Norman's voice caught my attention.

"Yep" I turned to look at him "Well, kinda...I'm just assisting Mrs. Dennis right now. I won't take over the class until she has her baby" I said. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Riley Spencer" I held my hand out.

"Norman Reedus" he chuckled, shaking my hand. "It's nice to finally meet you" 

"Huh?" I asked confused.

"Mingus has been talking about you all week" he said.

"Really?" I asked. 

"Yea, I think you're his favorite teacher" he smiled.

"He's a good kid" I said looking over at Mingus and Oliver, who were talking animatedly about Call of Duty. "He talks about you all the time too, at school. You're like his hero" I said.

"Oh, Yea?" he said chuckling. "Ya know, you look really familiar..." he said taking off his sunglasses, revealing his stunning blue eyes. 

"I do?" I asked, entranced by his steady gaze. I could get lost in those beautiful blue eyes.

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before" he said rubbing his scruffy chin.

"Riley, didn't you say you bumped into him in a café last Friday" Olivier suddenly chimed in.

"Oh, ya know what? You're right" I laughed looking over at Oliver.

"I remember now" Norman said pointing to me "You said you were new in town" 

"Were you eavesdropping on me Mr. Reedus?" I asked playfully.

"I couldn't help it" he said rubbing his chin and smiling a crooked smile. 

The waitress headed back to our table, her skirt noticeably shorter and her cleavage on full display. "Hey guys, are you ready to order?" she said twirling a piece of her hair.

"Woah! Wha-" I quickly placed my hand over Oliver's mouth, knowing whatever he was about to say wouldn't be good. Probably hilarious, but definitely rude. He got that unfortunate trait from me, when I was younger anything I thought came straight out of my mouth. I've learned to filter myself with age, but Oli hadn't learned that yet.

We all ordered quickly as the waitress giggled, flirted, and all but freaking dry humped Norman. What the heck is wrong with people? Doesn't she see the two children sitting at the table with us? Poor guy, no wonder he always wore sunglasses to try and hide his face if that's how people act towards him.

"You sure you don't need anything else?" She asked in a sickly sweet tone. Norman noticeably cringed as she touched his arm. 

"Yea, we're good" he said in a clipped tone.

"Ok, call me if you need anything" she said with an exaggerated giggle, swaying her hips as she walked away. I shook my head taking a drink of my coke.

"Couyon" Olivier mumbled. I almost spit out my coke and had to turn away to hide my laughter. Once I got a grip on myself I turned back to the others, noticing the curious looks from Norman and Mingus. 

"Oli, that was rude!" I said sternly.

"Its true though" he said defensively "besides, you laughed" he said smiling mischievously.

"That's besides the point" I said.

"What did he say?" Mingus asked curiously.

"He basically called the waitress ignorant in Cajun French" I sighed.

"That's awesome!" Norman said bursting out laughing and high-fiving Olivier. 

"It was still rude" I sighed. "You shouldn't say things like that Oli."

"Yes mom" he said sarcastically rolling his eyes. A pang of hurt went through my heart hearing him call me "mom". We had always been open with him about the situation, so he knew who I was to him, but I don't think he understood everything just yet. I took another drink of my Coke to distract myself.

"Hey, Ms. Spencer" Mingus said catching my attention.

"You can just call me Riley" I said looking at him "Ms. Spencer sounds so...I don't know..." I hesitated, searching for the right words.

"Prissy?" Mingus laughed. 

I shot him a playful glare "You know, I still owe you for that comment the last time!" I said.

"Are you going to prank me or something?" he asked sarcastically. 

"You just wait punk, you'll get yours" I said, Oliver burst into a fit of giggles.

"You're so weird Riley" Oliver and Mingus said at the same time. Norman laughed as I watched the two boys giggle and high-five. 

"Haters" I said sticking my tongue out at them.


	5. Central Park

The waitress came back a minute later holding a tray with Mingus and Norman's food and drinks. She set them on the table leaning over more than necessary to show off her goods. 

"There ya go sweetie" she giggled. "Can I get you anything else?" 

"Yea" Olivier said catching her attention. "Where's ours?" he asked.

"Oh, yea" she huffed and walked away.

I rolled my eyes at her trying to hold my tongue. I can understand being a little bit excited but acting like that was just ridiculous. I looked up as the waitress came back with mine and Oliver's food. 

"Here" she mumbled setting the plates in front of us. 

"Thank you" I said smiling, she just rolled her eyes and walked away.

We all settled into a comfortable silence as we ate. The food was good, but I don't know if I'd want to come back to this diner after the way the waitress was acting towards us.

After we finished, the waitress came back to give us the check. She laid the ticket on the table, but made no move to leave.

"So...I was just wondering if maybe I could get a picture?" she asked Norman giddily. 

We waited as Norman took a few pictures with the waitress and listened to her gush about how amazing he was. 

"Wait, one more thing" she said as he was about to sit back down. "Could I get your phone number?" She said giggling. Norman looked at her like she was crazy then glanced over at us apologetically. 

"Sure, you can have his number!" I said quickly. I'd had enough of this girl's crazy, I just wanted to pay for my food and leave. I stood up quickly ignoring the 'are you crazy?' look Norman was shooting at me. I walked over to her and snatched the notepad and pen from her apron, I quickly scribbled down a number and handed it back to her. 

"If you're really lucky, maybe he'll take you on a date, to that new ice rink down in hell!" I said in an overly cheerful voice. Ignoring the utter confusion plastered on her face and the snickering coming from the three behind me, I quickly gathered my things and grabbed the ticket. "Come on Oli" I said turning to leave. Oliver quickly jumped out of the booth and followed me up to the register.

"I'll get it" Norman's voice came from behind me. I turned in time to see him handing the lady at the register his credit card.

"You didn't have to do that" I said putting my wallet away.

"I know, but I think I owe it to you after the disaster this turned out to be" He shrugged, taking his card back and putting his wallet away.

"It wasn't that bad" I chuckled. "Some people just need to learn when enough is enough" I said as the four of us stepped outside of the diner. 

"So I gotta ask, what number did you give her?" he asked rubbing his chin.

"867-5309" I shrugged and he burst out laughing.

"Damn, that's a good one. I'll have to remember that one" he chuckled.

"I don't get it" Olivier said.

"I'll tell you later" I said ruffling hair.

"So..." Norman started, "What do you guys have planned for the rest of the day?" he asked looking at me curiously.

"Well, Oli said he wanted to go to Central Park, so I was going to take him there" I said looking up at Norman. He wasn't a very tall man but I still only came up to his nose, making him several inches taller than me.

"Hey Riley! Can they come along with us?" Olivier asked excitedly.

"Oh! Can we Dad?" Mingus asked excitedly.

"Please, please, please!!!" both boys said at the same time.

"I don't have a problem with it" I smiled putting my arm around Oliver.

"I don't know bud, we're supposed to be meeting your mom soon" Norman said looking at Mingus.

"I'll text her and ask her to just pick me up there!" He said, quickly pulling out his cell phone and texting his mother. A second later his phone buzzed and he checked it quickly "She said ok" he said with a huge smile.

"Well, alright then" he chuckled and looked at me "If its really ok with you."

"Yea, its cool. The more the merrier!" I said "Also...I don't really know where Central Park is..." I said chuckling in embarrassment. I felt my cheeks turn pink as Norman and Mingus both laughed at me. 

"Hey, its OK. We'll lead the way" Norman said. He and Mingus started walking down the sidewalk and Olivier and I fell into step beside them. 

We walked for a while, weaving our way through the crowded sidewalks. Once we made it to Central Park Oliver said he just wanted to walk around and look at everything. Oliver and Mingus took the lead, walking together in front of us, chattering like they had been best friends forever. I was glad to see them getting along so well despite their slight age difference. Norman and I trailed behind them, watching the two boys in amusement.

"So, you're from Louisiana?" Norman asked.

"Yes" I said looking up and meeting his gaze. "How'd you guess?" 

"Well, the accent was a strong clue. But the Cajun kinda gave it away" he said smiling.

"I guess you've got a point" I chuckled.

"Why did you move to New York?" he asked curiously.

"Oliver's Dad got transferred with his job. They offered for me to tag along so I did" I shrugged.

"Wait, his dad? Aren't you his sister or something? You two look so much alike" He said in confusion.

"That's kind of a long story" I sighed.

"Maybe another time" he said bumping my shoulder with his playfully making me smile.

"Riley!" Olivier said. He and Mingus had stopped walking near some benches and were waiting for us to catch up.

"What?" I asked.

"We should bring my Mom and Dad here soon!" He said smiling a huge smile.

"Sure thing kid" I said.

My phone started ringing suddenly, so I pulled out of my pocket and checked the screen. I didn't recognize the number, but I answered anyway.

"Hello?" I said looking down at my shoes. "Yes, that's great. Thank you" I said hanging up the phone.

"Who was that?" Oliver asked curiously.

"That was the apartment manager, I have a new apartment!" I chuckled.

"Yea!" Oliver cheered. "I'm gonna stay over every weekend! We can have video game parties with Mingus!" He rambled excitedly.

"Hold it high-speed" I said poking him in the forehead.

"Riley " he huffed rubbing his forehead.

"Actually, a video game party sounds like a lot of fun!" Mingus said. "We should definitely throw one, but only Oliver is invited" Mingus said teasingly.

"Oh yea, punk?" I said quickly moving closer to him and ruffling his hair, making it stick up everywhere. Norman and I burst out laughing as he pushed my hand away and tried to fix his messy hair.

"What the hell is going on here?" An angry woman's voice caught all of our attention.

"Mom" Mingus said surprised.

"Helena" Norman nodded stiffly.

"Who the hell are you, and why are you putting your hands on my son?" she asked angrily.

"Mom, this is Ri- I mean Ms. Spencer. She's my new teacher, remember?" he said. A look of recognition crossed her face, but it only seemed to make her more angry. 

"So what's going on here then?" she turned on Norman angrily.

"Nothing" he said in annoyance. "We ran into each other at lunch."

"And decided to take a lovely stroll through the park" she said sarcastically. She suddenly turned on me "Don't think I don't know you're game!" she hissed getting in my face.

"Helena, stop it" Norman said annoyed.

"My game?" I asked confused. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about" I said.

A sudden stinging pain shot through my cheek as she slapped me hard. I stood there in shock, I couldn't believe she just hit me.

"Riley!" Oliver said worriedly.

"Mom!" Mingus cried from behind me.

"Helena, what the fuck?" Norman said moving her a few feet away from me.

"I know what you're doing!" she yelled pointing at me. "You stay the hell away from my son!" she walked over, snatching Mingus' hand and pulling him away. He turned back giving me an apologetic look before following his mother.

"Riley!" Oliver cried running over to me. "Are you ok?" he said wrapping me in a hug.

"Yea, I'm ok" I said quietly, wrapping an arm around him.

"I'm really sorry about her" Norman said. "I don't know what that was about" he said looking confused.

"Its ok, but I think it's time for us to go" I said grabbing Oliver's hand and turning back the way we came.

"Wait!" Norman said catching up with us and falling into step beside me. "Are you sure you're ok?" 

"Yes, I'm sure" I said "I don't know what I did to upset her, but I wish she wouldn't have done all that in front of the kids" I said looking down at Oliver who was distracted by a guy walking a dog.

"Yea, I know what you mean" he sighed.

"I feel bad. Because of me, you didn't even get to say bye to Mingus" I said looking up at him.

"It's ok, I'll see him again later this week" he said looking back at me. I smiled as we all stopped on the sidewalk outside of the park.

"Which way are you heading?" I asked.

"That way" he said pointing left. "You?" 

"That way" I chuckled pointing right. "Well, I guess I'll see you around" I said turning to leave.

"Wait Riley!" Oliver said pulling my sleeve. He quickly grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and ran over to Norman.

"Can we take a picture please?" Oliver asked excitedly.

"Sure" Norman laughed. Oliver opened the camera app and Norman kneeled down, taking a few pictures of himself with Oliver. I couldn't help but giggle at the silly faces Norman and Oli made. When they were done, they looked through the pictures laughing at themselves. I watched a few cars go by while they talked a little bit.

"Ok Riley, we can go now!" Oliver said catching my attention. He had a huge smile as he handed me my phone back. "Thank you for the pictures" Oliver said to Norman.

"Any time little man" he smiled. "I'll see you later" he said smiling his crooked smile.

"Yea" I said smiling back. We both turned around and went our separate ways.


	6. The Meeting

I spent the whole day Sunday moving into my new apartment. It only took so long because I had to load all my things into my car, drive through the hellacious New York traffic, then carry all of my things up to the fifth floor of my new building. I was lucky that the apartment came with living room furniture and a TV, but I would need to get a bed. Guess my couch days weren't quite over yet. 

After the long day of moving I was exhausted. I took a quick shower and turned on the TV, plopping down on the couch. I decided to order some pizza because I hadn't had time to do any grocery shopping yet. There was a knock on the door and I quickly answered it, paying the guy and taking my pizza. I settled back on the couch, flipping through channels and eating pizza when my phone chimed showing a new text message. I didn't recognize the number but I opened it anyway. 

: Hey Riley 

I looked at the phone in confusion, wondering if maybe one of my friends got a new phone number. 

R: Who is this? 

I replied and set the phone aside to continue channel surfing and eating pizza. I flipped the channel a few more times before it hit SyFi and noticed they were playing Firefly. I put down the remote and watched for a few minutes until my phone chimed again. 

: I'll give you a hint ;)   
: you volunteered me to take a waitress ice skating in hell 

I looked at the phone confused. How the freaking hell did Norman Reedus get my phone number? 

R: better get your mittens then, I hear it's cold down there in hell   
R: how did you get my number? 

I put the phone down and carried my leftover pizza to the fridge, putting it away. I heard my phone again as I was washing my hands. I dried my hands off and walked over to the couch to read the message. 

N: You really shouldn't let just anyone mess with your phone you know. 

R: Seriously? I'm surprised Oli didn't rat you out. 

N: It was his idea. 

R: I'll have to get him back for that later. 

N: aw. its not so bad is it? 

R: nah, its cool I guess. :) 

N: Good. :p 

I chuckled to myself as I plugged my phone in and snuggled up to watch Firefly until I fell asleep. 

When I woke up in the morning I quickly got dressed, I put on my make-up and pulled my hair up in the usual bun. I grabbed my phone, wallet, and keys, slipping them inside my work bag and headed out the door quickly. My new apartment was a little further from the school so I didn't have time for breakfast. I made my way through the front doors and walked down the hallway. As I turned the corner I was surprised to see the principal and an older looking man standing outside the classroom doors. 

"Good morning Principal Sims" I said as I approached them. 

"Ms. Spencer" Principal Sims said sternly. 

"We need you to come with us" the older man said in a serious tone. 

"Um, ok" I said uncertainly. They both started walking toward the office and I followed them. 

When we reached the office the principal whispered something to the secretary and headed into his office followed by the older man. I got a bad feeling in my stomach as I stepped inside the office and saw Helena sitting in one of the three chairs across from Principal Sims and the older man who were at the large desk. I shut the door behind me and took an open seat, waiting quietly. Not a moment later the door opened again and Norman stepped inside the office looking confused. 

"Good. Now that we're all here, we can get started" Principal Sims said as Norman took the chair between me and Helena. "This is Superintendent Peterson" he said introducing the older man. 

"Ms. Christensen has asked me to address an important matter" Mr. Peterson said looking at me. "Ms. Spencer, it has come to our attention that you have struck up quite an unconventional friendship with Mingus Reedus. We consider it a matter of great concern, and I felt the need to discuss it with you immediately for Mingus' safety" he said staring me down intimidatingly. 

"Hold up. That's what this is about?" Norman asked turning to Helena angrily. 

"Of course that's what this is about!" She replied angrily. "Can't you see what she is doing? She's using our son to get to you! She's probably one of those psychotic fan girls that stalk you!" she said angrily. 

"What? Have you lost it?" he asked her angrily. 

"Oh, come on! Look at the facts! She moves halfway across the country for no apparent reason. She gets a job at our son's school, and they strike up some weird friendship. Which is highly inappropriate in itself, I might add! Then all of a sudden you guys randomly just bump into each other at lunch and go on a walk through Central park!" she huffed angrily. 

I stopped listening as Norman and Helena continued arguing. I couldn't believe she would actually think that I would use Mingus like that! What kind of person would do something like that? I wasn't going to just sit there and continue to be accused of using a child as leverage just to get to his father. 

"Enough!" Mr. Peterson said loudly. "Mr. Reedus, in light of your son's circumstances, we can not be too careful with these matters" 

"He's right" Principal Sims agreed. "We believe Ms. Christensen has a valid point, and has every right to be concerned." 

"Ms. Spencer" Mr. Peterson said looking sternly at me "You will be placed on a probationary period, during which you will undergo an extensive background check. If we find any reason at all that shows you might be a danger to Mingus or his family, you will be terminated immediately and you will be stripped of your teaching license. Am I clear?" 

"Yes" I said quietly looking at my hands that were folded in my lap. 

"What?! That's all?" Helena said angrily. "I want her fired! Or at the very least, removed from my son's classroom!" 

"Ms. Christensen, we can't fire Ms. Spencer without a valid reason. And unfortunately we can't move her, she was hired to take over for Mrs. Dennis when she goes on maternity leave." Mr. Peterson said. 

"There is always the option of moving Mingus into a different English class with one of the other teachers." Principal Sims added. 

"Fine, do that!" she huffed angrily. 

"Alright then, I'm glad we were able to reach an understanding" Principal Sims said. "Ms. Spencer, I'm sending you home for today until we can get Mingus' new schedule arranged." 

I nodded and stood up causing the chair to scrape across the floor loudly. Without a word I quickly left the office, shutting the door quietly behind me. 

I made my way down the hallway and out the front door of the school. Once I was outside I paused for a few moments, taking some deep breaths to try and calm my nerves. I was about to continue walking when I heard the door open behind me. 

"Riley" Norman's voice came from behind me. 

I turned around to look at him, trying to keep my temper under control. 

"Are you-" 

"I'm fine" I huffed. 

"Are you sure?" he asked looking at me skeptically. 

"Yea, I just-I just need to go" I said turning away and walking quickly down the sidewalk. I didn't know where I was going, I just couldn't be around anyone until I was able to calm down. I stormed down the sidewalk angrily, not caring if I bumped into anyone in the crowd. 

As I walked I slowly felt my anger dissolve away, leaving me feeling exhausted. I looked around and realized I ended up walking almost all the way back home. I paused, moving aside so other people could continue walking, and took a few calming breaths. Remembering that I had no food at my apartment I decided to go shopping. 

I found a small grocery store not far from my place and made my way inside. I grabbed a hand basket and began grabbing basic necessities. I paused when I felt my phone vibrate in my bag. I pulled it out and realized I had several messages from Norman, one from my dad and one from my best friend Kim. 

D: Hey sweetie, just checking on you. How's New York? 

I smiled and typed a quick reply to my dad letting him know I was ok. I opened the message from Kim and read it. 

K: Hey Bitch! Did you fall off the face of the earth up there? 

I smiled as I read the message. Kim had a very vibrant personality and she was extremely outgoing. 

R: I'm good. Still alive! Just been crazy busy! 

I sent the text to Kim and opened the Messages from Norman. 

N: I just want you to know, I don't agree with Helena   
N: Mingus is really upset about what happened   
N: He says he wants to apologize to you 

I sighed as I read the messages. I couldn't help but feel bad for the way I acted towards him earlier. He even tried defending me and I was a total jerk to him. 

R: I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. Tell Mingus not to be sorry! This isn't his fault! He has nothing to apologize for. 

I sent the message and finished my shopping. I felt my phone vibrate as I was exciting the store but my arms were full of groceries so I couldn't check it. 

I quickly went back to my apartment and put away all of my groceries. Once I was finished I grabbed a slice of left over pizza, sat on my couch and pulled out my phone. I had two messages, one from Kim and one from Norman. 

K: Do you like New York? 

I quickly replied yes and moved on to my next message. 

N: Can we meet up? Mingus really wants to talk to you. 

R: Sure 

N: We're at the café close to the school right now. 

R: ok. I'll be there in a few. 

I replied throwing my pizza in the trash, grabbing my wallet and keys and left my apartment. 

When I finally made it to the café I looked around, seeing Norman waiting in line and Mingus sitting at a table in the back. I made my way over to Mingus, smiling and waving when he looked up at me. I felt terrible seeing the look on his face, he looked completely distraught and his mouth was set in a frown. 

"Riley, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" He said quickly. 

"Hey! You quit that!" I said standing him up and squeezing him in a tight hug. "You have nothing to apologize for, ok. None of this is your fault" I said seriously. I sat him back down and took the seat across from him. 

"But my Mom got you in trouble! You could get fired and you won't ever get to teach again!" he was visibly upset. 

"You listen to me Mingus Reedus! None of this is your fault!" I said looking him in the eyes. "Don't you worry about me, kid. I'll be fine. But do me a favor" 

"What?" he asked unenthusiastically. 

"Don't be mad at your mom, ok" I said. 

"What?" he asked incredulously "How can you even say that?" 

"Just hear me out, ok" I said. "I know its easy to be mad and think your mom is the bad guy here, but you have to think of it from her side too. She was just worried about you. She wants to do what's best for you no matter what, and she's going to do whatever she has to do to make sure you're always safe. That's some pretty solid momming if you ask me" 

"Momming?" he said raising a skeptical eyebrow at me. 

"Cut me a break kid, I'm doing this on the fly" I sighed. 

"Alright" he huffed. "How do you know all this anyway?" he asked curiously. 

"I just do" I said ruffling his hair, making it stick up all over the place. Norman laughing behind me caught my attention and I turned around seeing him casually sitting on the table behind me. 

"Jeez. You've been there the whole time, haven't you" I sighed. 

"Just about" he laughed. He moved over to our table, taking the seat next to Mingus and handing him a cup of ice cream.


	7. Delusional

First off, I made a Facebook page! It's easier for me to talk to people on there!

https://m.facebook.com/SquirmyWormy-597241980430201/

I'm also @DerpyCatDes on Instagram and Twitter.

So...I guess I've decided to continue with this story. I feel like I have a pretty solid idea and I don't want to lose it if I stop working on this story for a while. 

I really hope that you guys like it, I'll try and work on it around SOS when I can. 

Thanks guys!  
〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

I sat with Norman and Mingus while Mingus ate his ice cream. When he finished, we walked out of the diner and stopped just outside of the door. 

"Hey Mingus" Norman said "call your mom and let her know that I'm taking you home today." 

"Ok" Mingus said pulling out his phone. Norman waited as Mingus dialed the number and put the phone to his ear, then turned to me. 

"Thank you" he said "For coming here and talking to him." 

"It was no problem, really" I said. "I would feel horrible knowing he blamed himself for something like that" I said meeting his gaze. His eyes were such a clear blue, the blue shirt he wore making them stand out even more. I couldn't help but to get lost in those beautiful blue eyes every time he looked at me. 

"Ok, Dad" Mingus' voice snapped me back to reality. 

I cleared my throat and took a few steps back, realizing what I was doing. I had just gotten in trouble for even associating with these two, now here I am standing in front of a café a few blocks from the school with them. I couldn't take chances like this with my career on the line. 

"I uh, I should be going" I said quickly and started to turn around to leave. 

"Wait!" Mingus said catching my attention. I paused and looked at him expectantly. "Can we hang out again soon?" he asked. 

"I don't know if that's such a good idea..." I said hesitantly. My heart hurt seeing his smile fall at what I'd said. 

"Oh, ok" he sighed. 

"How about this" I said catching his attention. "I'm supposed to have Oli this weekend. Maybe we can figure something out." 

"Alright" he smiled. "Thanks Riley." 

"Sure thing kid" I said. I looked back at Norman who was watching us. "I guess I'll text you?" I said hesitantly. 

"Yea, sounds good" he nodded. I smiled and turned around, quickly walking away. 

The week seemed to drag on. It was extremely lonely living alone in a new city. I would just go to work and go home. I had done some furniture shopping in my free time so I wouldn't have to sleep on the couch anymore. I would text Kim a lot too, but she was usually working. Occasionally I'd get a phone call from Oliver and we'd talk for a few minutes, but aside from that, I was seriously lacking a social life. 

By the time Friday came, I was practically bursting with excitement. I left work and went straight over to Melissa and Don's place to meet Oliver when he got home from school. I couldn't contain my excitement as I practically skipped into the building and went straight to the elevator. 

I knocked on the door and waited as I heard someone walking through the room. 

"Hey Riley" Melissa said as she opened the door. 

"Hey" I said as she let me inside the house. 

"Don should be back with Oliver soon" Melissa said walking over to the couch and gesturing for me to sit with her. 

"How has everything been going? I feel like we haven't talked in forever" she chuckled. 

"Things have been pretty good" I said smiling. 

"Made any more plans with a certain someone?" Melissa asked with a wink. 

"Certain someone?" I asked. 

"Come on Riley, you know" she said nudging me lightly. "Norman Reedus! Oliver told me everything that happened the other day!" she said excitedly. 

"Oh, well we talked a little bit earlier this week, but I haven't heard from him since, so I'm not really sure" I shrugged. 

"What?" Melissa asked in disbelief. "Riley! Don't you know how many women would kill to be in your position? You cant let this opportunity slip away!" 

"My position?" I asked in amusement. 

"Yes! You got to hang out with Norman Reedus! Stuff like that doesn't just happen every day! And Oliver told me about how he got your phone number too!" she chuckled. "Cant you see what's going on here?" 

"Yea, we went for a walk. Oliver and Mingus really hit it off too, they'll be really good friends." I said. 

"Oh my God. Please don't make me V8 smack you in the forehead" she said. 

"What?" I asked confused. 

"He likes you Riley!" She said waving her hands in the air. 

"You're delusional" I chuckled. 

"Think about it for a minute!" she said seriously. "Y'all had lunch together, that was a coincidence, I'll give you that, but he paid for the meal!" 

"That was because the waitress turned into a total train wreck as soon as he showed up. He was just being nice." I said. 

"Ok, fine" she huffed "But afterwards he wanted to know if you had plans! He wouldn't have asked that if he was just being polite!" 

"Mingus wanted to come along with us" I stated plainly. 

"That was after he asked though!" she said excitedly. "And he got your phone number too! Face it Riley, he likes you" she giggled excitedly. 

"Whatever you say" I said unconvinced. It didn't really matter what Norman's intentions were, after what happened the other day, my job was on the line. 

The door opened and Oliver came bounding through excitedly, followed by an amused looking Don. 

"Riley!" Oliver called out as he jumped on my lap roughly. 

"Oli, you're getting too big for this!" I huffed under his weight. 

"Oliver, why don't you go get your things together?" Melissa said in a motherly tone. 

Oliver quickly packed a bag for the weekend, making sure to bring his new favorite video game along. When he was ready we said goodbye to Melissa and Don and headed to my place. I held Oliver's hand as we made our way through the crowded sidewalks. We were about half way back when my phone started ringing. We came to a stop as I pulled it from my pocket and quickly answered it. 

"Hello?" I said while pulling Oliver off to the side so people could pass us. 

"Hey, Riley" Norman said catching me by surprise. I was expecting it to be Melissa saying that maybe Oliver had forgotten something. 

"Hey" I said grabbing Oliver's hand with my free one and continuing to walk. 

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" He asked in amusement. 

I instantly stopped in my tracks, ignoring the angry comments from the man behind me, and looked around. I caught sight of the familiar shaggy brown hair and sunglasses across the street. He was standing in front of an ice cream cart with Mingus by his side, both of them grinning and holding ice cream cones. 

"Don't just stand there" he chuckled. "Come get some ice cream." 

"Ok" I said with a smile. I hung up the phone and lead Oliver across the street carefully. By the time we got across, Norman and Mingus had two more ice cream cones. 

"Hey guys!" Mingus said handing an ice cream to Oliver. 

"Thank you!" Oliver said smiling widely. 

"Hey" I chuckled, watching Oliver eat the ice cream enthusiastically. 

"Hope you weren't too busy" Norman said handing me an ice cream cone. 

"Not really, I was just taking Oli home" I chuckled. "Thank you for the ice cream" I said. 

"No problem" he said. 

"Are we still going to hang out this weekend, Riley?" Mingus asked quickly, looking at me hopefully. 

"Yea" I said "Whenever you guys are free, we can hang out" 

"How about right now!" Oliver said excitedly. "Mingus can come play my new game with me!" 

"Yea" Mingus said excitedly, "Were not busy right now! Can we?" 

"Mingus" Norman said sending a quick unsure glance my way. 

"I-I uh" I stuttered. I knew I had to be careful with these two, I didn't want to get myself into anymore trouble, but Oliver had made a good friend in Mingus. I couldn't take that away from him just because of my problems. Besides, it's not like they have school officials trailing me like the F.B.I. or something. "Sure, why not" I said smiling down at them. 

"Awesome!" both boys said together. I chuckled at them and shook my head. I had always had a hard time saying 'no' to Oliver, I guess it would be the same for Mingus too. 

"I hope its really ok" Norman said "They kind of railroaded you just now" 

"Yea, its fine" I said smiling. "They seem so excited to hang out!" 

"Come on, Riley! Let's go!" Oliver said excitedly. 

"Ok, ok!" I laughed "Hold your horses dude" I said. 

I grabbed Oliver's free hand and started walking, Norman and Mingus walking along beside us. We made our way down the sidewalk, all of us eating our ice cream as we walked. 

We all piled into the elevator when we finally made it to the apartment building. When we got to the fifth floor, Oliver hopped out of the elevator excitedly. 

"I'm so excited to finally see your apartment Riley!" he said. 

"Don't get your hopes up, I'm not even on a teacher's salary yet. I think the janitor makes more than I do" I chuckled. 

"It can't be that bad" Mingus said as we made it to the door. 

"I never said it was bad, just nothing special" I said as I unlocked the door and swung it open. We all went inside and I shut the door. 

"Its so small!" Oliver said in disappointment. 

"I told you not to get your hopes up" I chuckled. 

Oliver retrieved his game from his bag before tossing it aside. He and Mingus wasted no time, getting right to business. 

"Boys will be boys" I mumbled quietly as I watched them. I turned to Norman who was also watching the boys in amusement. 

"You want something to drink?" I asked. 

"Sure" he nodded. We made our way to the kitchen, I gestured for Norman to have a seat at the bar as I pulled a couple of cokes from the fridge. 

"Coke ok?" I asked as I handed it to him. 

"Yea, thanks" he nodded, smiling. 

I hoisted myself up on the opposite counter and sipped on my coke. 

"So I gotta ask you something. It's been eating me up." He said suddenly. 

"Ok" I said setting my coke down and looking at him. 

"That first day back at the café, you really didn't know who I was?" he asked. 

"Nope" I said shaking my head. "I knew you looked familiar, but didn't realize who you were" I said. 

He chuckled lightly and looked down at his hands shaking his head. 

"I did finally realize it, a few days later when Oliver forced me to watch that zombie show you're on. He said I live under a rock." I chuckled. 

"Living under a rock, huh?" he asked in amusement. 

"Yea, that's what he calls it" I shrugged. "I guess it is kinda true, I don't keep up with pop culture. It's all just a hot mess and I've got enough drama in my own life, I don't need theirs too." 

"That's a unique perspective" he said taking a drink of his coke. 

"Maybe. I've just always thought it was weird to obsess over "famous" people. I mean, yea, recognizing someone from a movie you like is one thing, but the way some people obsess over celebrities is just creepy." I said. 

"Some of the fans can get a little...overzealous, but I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without them" he said. "The fans are the backbone of my career." 

"I guess you have a point" I said. "You not liking your fans would be like me saying I don't like kids" I said kicking my feet back and forth. 

"Exactly" he said.


	8. Feather Kisses

Norman and I had moved into the living room after a while, sitting on the couch and chatting while watching the boys play games. 

"Hey boys, are y'all hungry?" I asked. 

"Yes!" They said enthusiastically, pausing the game to turn around and look at me from their place on the floor. 

"Ok, what do you want?" I asked. 

"Pizza!" Oliver said. 

"Pizza" I whined playfully. 

"Whatever, Riley, you love pizza!" He laughed. "My mom says I love pizza so much because you used to eat it all the time, and that's why I was such a fat baby too." 

"Whatever" I said pulling out my phone and ordered a few pizzas and some bread sticks. 

Afterwards, Norman and the boys had insisted that we all play a game together until the pizza came. We all sat on the floor, Norman and I in the middle, and Mingus and Oliver on either side of us. We played some shooting game, the goal was whoever kills the most people wins. I was doing pretty good, I kept killing Norman and Oliver, but Mingus was kicking all of our butts. 

Just when I was about to kill Norman again, he suddenly leaned over and nudged my arm with his elbow, making me drop my controller and killing me in the game. 

"Cheater!" I called. 

"I didn't cheat, your just clumsy" he laughed as he continued playing. 

Once his full attention was back on the screen I leaned over quickly and pressed some buttons on his controller, making him drop a grenade and blow himself up. 

"Now who's cheating?" He said turning to me. 

"I don't know what you're talking about" I shrugged "you're just clumsy" I chuckled. 

"Oh yea?" he said. 

Before I knew what was happening, an arm wrapped around my waist and I was being lifted into the air. 

"No! Put me down!" I yelped. 

"Alright" Norman laughed. He plopped me down on the couch and immediately started tickling me. 

"No! Please stop!" I said bursting out laughing. 

"Boys!" Norman said looking over at them. 

Immediately both boys joined in, tickling me roughly and laughing hysterically. I was laughing so hard that my stomach was getting sore. I quickly reached over and grabbed a throw pillow from the edge of couch and started swinging. I wacked each of them in the face with the pillow and they immediately jumped away from me. 

I jumped to my feet and started swinging the pillow, hitting the boys playfully with it a few times before turning to Norman and swinging the pillow at his head. As soon as the pillow made contact, the side busted and feathers exploded everywhere. Me and the boys busted out laughing at the sight of Norman standing there covered in feathers. 

"Crikey!" I said in my best Steve Irwin impression. "Boys look! It's a rare flightless Reedus!" I said, the boys both dying laughing. "What a majestic creature!" I said cracking up. 

I was almost falling over laughing when a mischievous smirk spread across his face. He suddenly lunged forward, yanking the pillow from my hands and dumped the rest of the feathers out over me and the boys, busting out laughing at us. 

"Dad!" Mingus said as we all continued laughing harder. 

When we all finally stopped laughing, and I caught my breath, I took a look around. The whole living room was covered in feathers, including Norman, Mingus, Oliver, and myself. 

"We should probably clean this up" I said pulling my hair down and shaking the feathers out. 

"Sorry about the mess" Norman said biting his thumb. That was something I noticed he tended to do when he was either nervous or thinking, just like when he would rub his chin. 

"Its ok" I chuckled "It was my fault" I said shrugging nonchalantly. "You boys can go clean yourselves up in the bathroom, I'll clean this" I said. 

Mingus and Oliver made their way to the bathroom and I pulled out the vacuum cleaner. 

"I'll help you get this cleaned up" Norman said, grabbing the garbage can. 

We quickly got to work cleaning the living room. I could feel Norman's eyes on me, making me feel self-conscious as I vacuumed feathers off of everything in the room. We finally finished cleaning, there were still a few lingering feathers here and there since we were both still covered, but for the most part it was clean. The boys were still in the bathroom cleaning themselves up and probably making a huge mess. I pulled the vacuum back to the closet, putting it away and leaning against the wall to inspect my feather covered clothes. 

"You look like a quail" Norman chuckled as he walked over to me. 

"A quail?" I asked in confusion. 

"You've got a feather in your hair" he said. 

I froze as he stepped closer, reaching up and gently pulling the feather from my hair. 

"Oh" I said quietly as he held it between his fingers for me to see. He was still standing very close to me and I could feel my heart start to beat faster. My mind instantly flashed back to my conversation with Melissa, making me even more nervous. 

I looked up at him, finding clear blue eyes staring back down at me. I felt like I would melt under his intense, heated stare. He held my gaze as he gently trailed the feather down the side of my face, making me shiver as it tickled my cheek. He continued to glide the feather down my face, my breath caught in my throat when he glanced down at my lips as the feather grazed across them slowly. 

My heart started beating erratically and I was worried he would be able to hear how loud it was. He leaned in slowly, our faces only inches apart as he continued tracing my chin with the feather. I let out a shaky breath as he stroked my neck with it, nearly melting under his fiery gaze as he closed the distance between us. His lips brushed mine softly when a sudden banging on the door jerked us back into reality. 

I could feel myself blushing furiously as I realized what had just happened. I cleared my throat nervously and quickly went to answer the door. 

"Hey that'll be th-woah!" he paused when he looked up at me. 

"What?" I asked in confusion. 

"You know you're covered in feathers, right?" he asked curiously. 

"Oh, yea I know. A pillow exploded" I said nonchalantly, handing him the money. 

"Don't see something like that every day" he chuckled while pocketing the money and passing me the food. 

"Thank you" I said, closing the door as he walked away. 

I turned, pausing when I realized I was alone in the room. Norman must have gone to check on the boys, I thought as I carried the pizzas to the kitchen. I felt blood rush to my cheeks as I remembered what happened a minute ago. Norman just kissed me, well kind of. So I guess that means he really does like me like Melissa had said. But what was I supposed to do now? He was such a sweet guy and I really liked him, and Mingus too, but I wasn't even supposed be hanging around them right now. I didn't want to hurt him, but I couldn't afford to loose my teaching license either. I was at a total loss on what I should do. 

I stood there, staring at the pizza boxes while trying to get my nerves under control. I decided I wouldn't over think things and I wouldn't make a big deal of this. I didn't want to make things weird between us. I would just have to decide what to do later, but right now I wouldn't freak out over it. 

"Oh, Pizza!" Oliver's excited voice snapped me out of my thoughts. 

"Yep" I said looking at the boys, who were all clean now. 

I pulled out some plates and got the boys settled at the bar with their food. Norman came back a moment later, his clothes were clean now too. I looked up at him, catching his gaze for a moment and feeling a little awkward. I didn't know what to say to him now, but I had told myself that I didn't want make things awkward. 

I pushed my nervousness aside, offering him a plate of pizza with a smile. "Sorry if there's any feathers on it" I said as he grabbed the plate. 

"Thanks" he said with a smile. "Why don't you go get cleaned up" he said. 

I nodded and made my way to my bedroom. I quickly changed clothes, not bothering to try and clean the feathers up, and ran a brush through my hair to catch any feathers that were still stuck. I checked myself in the mirror, satisfied that I didn't look like I was wearing a chicken costume anymore, and headed back out to the kitchen. 

I sat on the counter in the kitchen, eating pizza and joking around with Norman and the boys. Occasionally my mind would wander back to what had happened, but I would quickly push it away, not wanting to start over thinking things. I just wanted to enjoy seeing Oliver so happy right now and having fun. 

After we all finished eating Mingus and Oliver moved back into the living room to continue their game, leaving Norman and I alone in the kitchen. 

"Riley" Norman said hesitantly, turning to face me. "I'm sorry about earlier- " 

"No, its OK" I interrupted, looking over at him as he looked back at me skeptically "Really, its ok" I said softly. His intense blue gaze was burning holes through me as I searched for the right thing to say. 

"I shouldn't have..." he trailed off rubbing his chin and looking down. 

"I didn't stop you" I said. He looked back up at me curiously. "It's not that I didn't want you to...just, with everything going on right now, with my job..." I said looking down at my shoes. 

"I know" he said. 

We were quiet for a moment, I smiled to myself as I listened to Mingus and Oliver in the living room, joking around and laughing loudly at each other. I saw Norman's boots come in my line of sight as he moved to stand in front of me. I looked up at him, entranced by his bright blue eyes. 

"It's your call" he said. "We can do whatever you want, ok. Just know that I'm not going anywhere." 

"Are you sure?" I asked. 

"Yea" he nodded. "I know how important your job is to you, it wouldn't be fair for me to force you to make that choice." 

"Thank you" I said smiling up at him. 

He smiled and leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on my cheek. 

"Lets go see what those boys are up to" he said. 

"Ok" I said hopping down from the counter and following him into the living room.


	9. The Convention

I want to know if y'all think things are moving too fast?   
Too slow?   
What's your opinion? 

Sometimes I feel like its too slow but when I want something to happen and I'm like, wait its way too soon for that. :/ 

Anyway... Hope y'all enjoy! 

〰〰〰〰〰〰

It had been a few weeks since I had last seen Norman and Mingus. Norman told me that he had to leave that very next day to travel around for some conventions, so I hadn't seen him since then. He would usually text me when he had free time, and he would sometimes call when he wasn't too tired. I could tell how much he loved going around and meeting the fans, but after doing meet and greets for several hours, anyone would be exhausted. I wasn't allowed to see Mingus while Norman was gone either, for obvious reasons, so I had been spending a lot of time with Oliver and his family. 

Today was supposed to be another day like that, I had planned to spend time with the Reeds, but they had all come down with the flu and I didn't want to get sick. I looked out the window at the grey morning sky and sighed heavily. It was really winter time now and it was getting colder every day. I flopped down on my couch and flipped through the TV channels in boredom. Settling on some documentary about ancient Egypt, I snuggled into the couch with every intention of napping my day away. 

Just as I was dozing off my phone started ringing loudly from its spot on the side table. I reached over and grabbed it, answering it quickly. 

"Hello?" I said, flinching back when I was met with deafening background noise. 

"Hey, Riley" Norman's voice came through over the noise. "Can you hear me?" 

"Yea, I can hear you. What's going on?" I asked curiously. I could tell he was at a convention by the sounds of all the people talking in the background. 

"I need a favor" he asked "If you're not busy" 

"Ok, what do you need?" I asked. 

"Coffee!" he said almost desperately. "And food too if you don't mind" he added. 

"Wait, you're back in town?" I asked quickly. 

"Yea" he said sounding a little distracted. "Do you mind?" he asked. 

"No, I don't mind. Just text me what all you want and the address and I'll be there soon" I said. 

"Thank you so much, Riley. You're a life saver" he chuckled. "I can't wait to see you" he added on quickly. I could hear someone calling his name in the background, saying there were fans that wanted to talk to him. "I gotta go" he said quickly. 

"Ok, see you soon" I said hanging up. 

I got up from my spot on the couch and went to take a quick shower. Afterwards, I blow-dried my hair and put on my usual make up. I put on some jeans, a long sleeve shirt and some boots since it was cold outside. I pulled my jacket on and grabbed my keys, wallet and phone, quickly checking the new message from Norman so I knew what I needed to get. 

After stopping for food and coffee, I finally found myself in the entrance to the convention center. It was totally packed and I had no idea where I was supposed to go. I pulled out my phone, quickly texting Norman and letting him know I was here. 

"Excuse me, miss" a large man with an I.D. badge around his neck said to me. "I'll need to see your pass" 

"Pass?" I asked in confusion. 

"You have to pay to get in here" he said sternly. "And no outside food or drinks are permitted either" 

"Oh, but I-" 

"Hey, Riley!" Norman's voice cut me off as he came from across the room. "Its ok, she's with me." He said to the security guard as he took the coffee from me so my hands wouldn't be so full. 

"Alright, have a nice day Mr. Reedus" the man said, turning and walking away. 

"Thanks for coming!" he said wrapping his free arm around me and pulling me into a hug. 

"You're welcome" I said trying to control my blush. 

"Come on, I've got to get back to my table" he said placing his hand on my back gently and leading me through the crowds. 

As we got closer I was completely shocked at the huge line of people at Norman's table. There were pretty long lines at the tables next to his, but his was definitely the longest. Norman lead me around the back way, the crowd calling his name and waving as we walked by. 

"Hey guys! Food and coffee are here!" He said triumphantly to the other guys around him as we got to his table. I was so overwhelmed by the amount of fans that I hadn't even paid much attention to the other people at the nearby tables. Michael Rooker was on one side of Norman, Sean Patrick Flanery was on the other, and there were a few other guys standing around that looked like they worked there. 

"Thank you!" A chorus of voices said as they all headed over to us. I quickly took the food out of the bag I was carrying and spread it all out on the table, stepping back so they could all get some. 

"Don't thank me" he said gesturing to me. "Thank Riley! She came all the way out here in the cold" he said smiling at me gratefully. 

"So this is Riley!" Sean said "Its nice to finally meet you!" he said smiling. 

"Nice to meet you too" I said. 

"I gotta tell you, Norm hasn't shut up about you this whole time!" he said slinging his arm over my shoulders like we were best friends. "Every single day its Riley this and Riley that, I really miss her, you guys should meet her" he said doing an impersonation of Norman. 

"Really?" I laughed. 

"What? No, he's exaggerating" Norman said defensively. 

"He really isn't" Michael laughed. "Nice to meet you sweetheart" he said shaking my hand. 

"Nice to meet you too" I said smiling. 

"Whatever, you guys need to get back to your tables" Norman said playfully, pushing Sean's arm off of me. They both busted out laughing, heading back to their tables to continue meeting their fans. 

"Well, that was fun" I chuckled, checking my pockets to make sure I had all my things. 

"You're not leaving already are you?" he asked. 

"I thought I was" I said in confusion. 

"Stay" he said pulling up another chair for me. "I haven't seen you in forever, you can't leave yet!" he said. 

"Ok, if you really want me to" I said pulling my coat off and hanging it on the back of the chair. 

"Thank you" Norman said pulling me into another hug. "I really missed you" he said quietly in my ear before pulling back and sitting me down in the chair. He took his seat and continued meeting with his fans. 

I watched in amusement as one after the other, people came through telling him how much they loved him, and having quick conversations with him before they had to leave. A few people would ask me some questions here and there and I'd answer them the best I could. Several people had even asked if I was Norman's girlfriend, and he would always answer with "I wish, she's way out of my league" or "She's way too pretty to be with me" which would make me blush almost every time. 

One guy, after finding out I wasn't Norman's girlfriend, even gave me his phone number and said he wanted to take me on a date. I thanked him, not wanting to be rude, and threw his number away a little while later. 

After the meet and greets were finished, I was totally exhausted. I had no idea how these guys could do this so much. 

"I have to go do a walking dead panel in a few minutes" Norman said as we gathered our things from the table. 

"You're not finished yet?" I asked incredulously. 

"Nope" he chuckled. "Its pretty hectic." 

"No kidding" I said. 

"How about you take this" he said handing me a bag full of gifts from his fans "and go on home. I'll come by and pick it up when I'm done here" 

"Ok" I said taking the bag from him. 

He leaned in, placing a quick kiss on my cheek "See you in a little bit" he said grabbing his stuff and hurrying over to the panel so he wouldn't be late. I sighed, pulling my jacket on and grabbing Norman's bag of gifts and heading out. 

When I got back to my apartment I put Norman's bag on the couch and hung my coat back by the door. I turned my stereo on, playing my favorite playlist, and turned it up some as I went to the kitchen. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and I was pretty hungry, so I decided to cook something. Norman texted a few minutes later saying he was done and he was on his way, so I told him the door was open and just come in when he got here. 

I was about half way done cooking when my phone started ringing. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Melissa so I turned the music down and answered. 

"Hello" I said turning back to my pot and continuing to stir my food. 

"Hey Riley" Melissa said sounding less than happy. 

"Hey, how are y'all feeling?" I asked. 

"We're getting a little better, but that's not why I called" she said. 

"Is everything ok?" I asked curiously. 

"Brenda called" she sighed. "She's been drinking again." 

"Oh God" I huffed. "What did she do now" I asked in frustration. My mother had always had a problem with alcohol and she just loved to call people and give them a piece of her mind when she was drinking. 

"It wasn't good" she said. 

"I'm so sorry" I said "I'll call and talk to her about it." 

"This can't keep happening Riley" she sighed. 

"I know. I'm so sorry, I'll take care of it" I said. 

"Ok. Talk to you later sweetie" she said. 

"Ok, bye" I said hanging up the phone. I quickly dialed my mom's number, running my hand through my hair roughly as I listened to the phone ringing. 

"Hello" her voice came through. 

"Mom, what did you do?" I sighed in frustration. 

"The first time I hear from you in two months and that's all you have to say to your mother!" she slurred. 

"Mom! What did you do!" I asked getting frustrated with her. 

"I just wanted to talk to my grandson" she said. 

"What did you say to Oliver?" I asked angrily. 

"I didn't even get to talk to him. That woman wouldn't even let me talk to him!" she whined dramatically. "So I told her exactly what I thought about them taking you away from us!" 

"Mom!" I said turning the stove off and sliding the pot to the back burner. 

"What?!" she asked. "They decide to whisk you away from us out of the blue and I'm just supposed to be OK with that?! And for what? Some kid! A ten year old boy that you let run your life!" she said angrily. 

"Oh, for the love of God, Mom!" I said resting my elbows on the counter and rubbing my forehead in frustration. "We've been through this! He's not just some kid! I don't understand why you can't just be understanding and support my decision!" 

"You just don't want to hear the truth because you've convinced yourself that he's still yours!" She said accusingly. "You're completely delusional if you think that boy will ever be your son again Riley! He isn't your problem anymore! Let him go!" 

"I know he isn't mine anymore! That's not the point! Quit changing the subject!" I said raising my voice. I was sick of having this argument every time I talked to her, that's why I quit talking to her. 

"I'm not changing the subject, I'm trying to keep you from ruining your life any more than you already have!" she growled. 

"Would you just stop!" I said in frustration. "Stop harassing Melissa and Don before you cause me to lose my rights to see Oliver! This is none of your business! He isn't your grandson anymore so just butt out!" I yelled angrily. 

"Fine" she huffed and hung up the phone. 

I set the phone down on the counter and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. This wasn't the end of it, I knew that for sure. My mother would definitely find some way to make my life hell no matter how much distance was between us. 

"Is everything ok?" I jumped and tuned around quickly at Norman's voice. He was standing in the entry of the kitchen with a concerned look on his face. 

"Yea, everything is fine" I said quickly. "Just handling some business." 

He looked at me skeptically, I could tell he was waiting for me to tell him the truth. 

"Its fine, really" I said shrugging. 

"Ok" he said. "But I gotta tell you, now I'm more curious than ever about you and Oliver." He chuckled. 

"He's my son" I stated. 

"Really?" he asked curiously. 

"Yea" I said nodding. "I got pregnant when I was sixteen. I knew I couldn't take care of a child, so I decided to give him to someone who could. I'm really lucky that they agreed to such an open adoption. Most people don't really go for it." I said. Norman walked over to me and wrapped me in a hug. 

"My mom never agreed with my decision to stay in Oliver's life" I said wrapping my arms around him and resting my head on his chest. "She likes to give us all hell about it every chance she gets." 

He pulled back a little and I looked up at him. "It'll all work out" he said and kissed me on the forehead lightly. 

"I hope so" I sighed. 

"It will" he said sounding so sure of himself. "So, what did you make for me?" he asked looking over my shoulder at my food.


	10. Decisions

Norman stayed for a while and ate dinner with me before he needed to go home. The convention was supposed to go all weekend so he needed to get some rest.

“Will you come back out with me tomorrow?” He asked. We were standing in my doorway as he was getting ready to go.

“I don’t know, maybe” I shrugged.

“You should. It was fun having you there today” he smiled.

“Alright, I’ll think about it” I teased.

“See you tomorrow” he said giving me a gentle kiss on the cheek and heading down the hall. 

I shut and locked the door and flopped down on the couch. Not a minute later my phone started ringing. 

“Hello?” I answered.

“RILEY DANIELLE SPENCER!! YOU BITCH!” My best friend Kim’s voice screeched.

“What did I do?” I asked quickly.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were getting cozy with the sexiest man in America!?” She squealed. “You gotta tell me EVERYTHING!!” 

“Wait, what are you talking about?” I asked sitting up straighter. 

“Are you Kidding? It’s all over the internet! There are dozens of pictures of you and Norman Reedus at that convention today!” She said. “Why didn’t you tell me? This is huge news!” 

“Oh, shit” I gasped. “I didn’t even think about that! I’m totally screwed!” I cried.

“What? Why? He’s the most amazing guy ever, how are you turning this into a bad thing?” she asked incredulously.

“This IS bad Kim, really, REALLY bad!” I said. 

“How so?” she asked confused.

I quickly filled her in on everything that happened since I got to New York, holding the phone away from my ear every time she would scream in excitement. It was a relief to finally be able to talk to someone about all of it, she was always good at giving advice and I really needed some right now.

“Shit, girl” she sighed.

“Yea” I sighed. “I don’t know what to do Kim. I really like him and he is so sweet, he even offered to wait for me until I was ready.” 

“Aww that’s so cute!” she squealed.

“The problem is that I don’t think this thing with the school is going to end very well” I said. “They said I’m on a probationary period. What if they see these pictures and think what Helena accused me of is actually true? I’ll lose my teaching license!”

“Well, they’re out there, nothing you can do about it now” she sighed. “I say you just do what makes you happy.” 

“But what about my job?” I asked softly. “I can’t live here if I have no money.”

“Hey, if they fire you, that’s their loss. You’re an awesome teacher Riley, and if they fire you over something stupid like this then they are idiots” she said. “Besides, you’re in freaking New York! There’s lots of other places you could work!”

“I guess you’ve got a point” I sighed.

“Good! I’m glad we got that out of the way” she said. “So when are you gonna see him again?” she asked excitedly.

“Well, he wants me to go back to the convention with him again tomorrow” I said.

“Aww! You lucky bitch! I’m so excited for you!” she squealed. 

“Thanks” I chuckled.

“Hey, I gotta go someone is beeping in” she said.

“Alright, talk to you later” I said.

“Bye bitch! Get lots of Reedus kisses!” she said and hung up.

I put down my phone and laid back, thinking about what Kim had said. I might have screwed myself out of my job. She was right, the pictures were out there now, there’s nothing I can do about it. I might as well just enjoy myself and do what makes me happy. If I need to find a new job, so be it, but I really enjoyed having Norman and Mingus in my life and I don’t think I could give them up. I went to bed that night feeling like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

The next morning I texted Norman and told him that I wanted to go with him, and he said he’d come by and pick me up on his way. I took a quick shower and got ready. I still had some time before Norman was supposed to pick me up so I turned on some music and decided to make some breakfast. I was making pancakes when one of my favorite songs came on. I turned the music up some and went back to cooking, singing along softly.

“You and I, share the same reflection  
Why don't you see that we cannot  
Survive in this condition?  
If you're cut, I'll bleed  
So go on, carve into your own heart  
I could use a new scar or a brand new start  
Slowly severing the only memories  
That bind us a-AAHHH!” I screamed spinning around quickly and raising my spatula defensively when I felt someone touch me. 

“Whoa, wait!” Norman called out quickly, raising his hands in surrender.

“Holy shit, you scared me” I sighed, lowering my spatula and relaxing.

“I knocked, but you were kind of in your own world over here” he chuckled. “You really shouldn’t leave your door unlocked” 

“Well, I knew you were coming, or it would have been locked” I said going back to my pancakes.

“So, I see you made me some pancakes this morning” he said wrapping his arms around me from behind and looking over my shoulder. 

“Ya know, for someone with so much money, you sure do mooch a lot” I teased.

“What can I say, you’re a great cook” he said kissing my shoulder lightly. “I just can’t help myself” he muttered quietly.

I turned off the stove as I finished the last pancake and stacked it on top of the others that were waiting to be eaten. Norman loosened his hold on me and I turned to face him, setting the spatula down on the counter. 

“Breakfast is served” I said gesturing to the stack of pancakes and looking up at him. 

He looked down at me, entrancing me with those hypnotizing blue eyes. Neither of us moved as he held me captive with his intense gaze. I wanted so badly to kiss him and I could tell he wanted to kiss me too, the longing between was nearly tangible.

Norman slowly moved his hand to my cheek, grazing his thumb across my skin gently as he leaned in, closing the distance between us. I lifted myself up on my toes, meeting him half way as our lips crashed together in a desperate kiss. I moved my hands to the back of his neck, clutching a handful of his shaggy brown hair as the kiss intensified. Our lips moved in synch, his tongue caressing mine as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tightly against him. He moved us back, trapping me between himself and the counter as he released my mouth to trail kisses down my neck. I released a shaky breath, tilting my head back as he covered my neck in feather light kisses. Norman’s phone started ringing as he was trailing kisses back up my neck.

“Are you gonna get that?” I mumbled.

“Nope” his husky voice making me shiver. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you. Whoever it is can wait” he muttered in my ear as the phone quit ringing.

He pressed his lips to mine again, kissing me slowly and passionately. His phone started ringing again a minute later and I pulled back reluctantly.

“You really should get that” I sighed. “It might be important.”

“Yea” he mumbled hesitantly. He pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen.

“Shit” he said quickly answering. “Hey. Yea, sorry. I’m coming” he said hanging up his phone.

“Who was it?” I asked curiously. 

“Andy, I totally forgot he was waiting in the car for us” he said sheepishly.

I tried so hard not to laugh but I just couldn’t contain it, a few giggles escaped as I covered my mouth quickly.

“Well what do you expect” he said wrapping his arms around me. “I got distracted” he whispered in my ear in a husky voice, making me shiver. He started kissing my neck again but I pushed him away gently. 

“We gotta go” I chuckled at his disappointed face.

“Alright, fine” he sighed.

I pulled myself away from him and gathered my things so we could leave. When I was ready I went back to the kitchen where Norman was texting someone. I glanced at the forgotten pancakes that were cold by now. I guessed we would just have to wait and eat later.

“Are you ready?” Norman asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yep, let’s go!” I said smiling up at him.

We left my apartment and headed to the elevator, riding it down and quickly exiting the building. I followed Norman as he lead the way over to a motorcycle parked not far from the door.

“Wait” I said “I thought you said he was waiting for us in a car.”

“He is” he said gesturing to the running car parked in the next spot. “Put this on” he said handing me a helmet.

I took the helmet from him and put it on while he put his on. He climbed onto the motorcycle, the engine roared loudly as he started it up. I hopped on behind him, wrapping my arms around him tightly as he took off.

~•~•~•~

Please don't forget to comment and let me know what you think! :)   
Thanks!


	11. The Convention (Part 2)

When we pulled up at the convention center I was surprised to see how crowded it was already. It was still pretty early, I didn't think so many people would be out here yet. 

I got off of the motorcycle carefully and pulled the helmet off, handing it back to Norman. Andy stepped out of the car that was once again parked next to the motorcycle. 

"You must be Riley" he said in his glorious accident. 

"Yep, its nice to meet you..." I trailed off. 

"Andrew Lincoln" he chuckled. "its lovely to finally meet the girl Norman can't stop talking about" he shook my hand. 

"Really" I said turning to Norman. "Do you ever do any work? Or do you just sit around talking about me all day?" I chuckled. 

Andrew laughed "I like her" he said looking at Norman. 

"Ha-ha" he said sarcastically. He checked his phone and looked back up at us "You guys go ahead inside, I'll catch up ok" he said sending a meaningful look to Andrew. 

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her" he said placing a hand on my back and leading me inside. 

"Well, that was weird" I mumbled. 

We went in through a back entrance, where several of the other cast members were gathered together talking. All eyes were on us as we entered and I instantly felt nervous. I didn't like being the center of attention very much, it made me really anxious and uncomfortable. 

"Hey Andy! Who's this?" a beautiful girl around my age with short brown hair and green eyes asked as she walked up. 

"This" he said with a grand gesture toward me, catching everyone's attention, "Is the infamous Riley Spencer, the young lady who has our Norman completely smitten!" 

I instantly felt my face go red at his announcement. I regretted having my hair pulled back in the usual bun now, because in that moment all I wanted to do was hide my face behind it. 

"Aww, Andy, you've embarrassed her!" The girl said. "Don't worry, we really are like a big family here. We're all just glad to see Norman so happy!" she said smiling. "Oh, I'm Lauren by the way" 

"Nice to meet you" I smiled, my anxiety slowly fading away. She was so nice and her smile was so warm and friendly. 

"Everyone is going to be very excited to meet you" she said. 

"Riley!" A familiar, excited voice called from behind me. I turned around quickly, a huge smile lighting up my face. Mingus was coming through the door followed closely by Norman. 

"Mingus!" I called back excitedly as he ran up to me excitedly, tackling me in a hug. 

"I missed you so much! It's been forever since we got to hang out!" he said releasing me. 

"I know, Oliver hasn't quit asking when we can do it again" I chuckled. 

"Is he here too?" he asked excitedly. 

"Sorry bud, he's at home sick this weekend" I said sadly. "It's a shame too, he would die of excitement if he was here today." 

"Maybe we can Skype him or something" Mingus said. 

"That would make his day" I chuckled and looked up at Norman. 

"Hey Ming, why don't you go find Chandler" Norman said, Mingus nodded and headed off. 

"Surprise" Norman said playfully with a smile. 

"What about Helena?" I asked. "She won't be happy about this" I said. 

"She doesn't know you're even here" he said nonchalantly. 

"For now" I mumbled to myself. I knew that if pictures got out that had Mingus in them also, I could definitely kiss my job goodbye. I was still worried about losing my job, but the thought of losing Norman and Mingus was much worse. I guess I should start looking for other employment options soon. 

"You're thinking so hard, I can feel the steam coming off of you" Norman said wrapping his arms around me, pulling me from my thoughts. "What's wrong?" 

"Just wondering what I'm going to do soon" I sighed. 

"What do you mean?" He asked curiously. I looked up at him, meeting his beautiful blue eyes. I didn't want to talk about that right now. I wanted him to enjoy the convention and his fans, not be worrying about my problems. I'll just figure it out later. 

"Food" I said quickly, unable to think of anything else to say. 

"Food?" He asked in amusement. 

"Yes. Someone distracted me this morning so I didn't get to eat." I chuckled. 

"It was worth it" he said pulling me in for a quick kiss. 

"Dad?!" Mingus called loudly, catching us off guard. We looked around realizing we had an audience, everybody was watching us in amusement. 

"Ming" Norman said. 

"Finally!" he said excitedly. "This is awesome!" he said. Everyone laughed, his excitement was contagious. 

"I was wondering when you'd finally kiss her, Dad" he said to Norman. 

"Alright, that's enough" Norman said rubbing Mingus' head and messing up his hair. 

A few minutes later, we all headed inside the main part of the building. Norman, Mingus, and I all headed over to Norman's table, which already had a crowd forming around it. The crowd started cheering as we all pulled up some chairs to the table, Mingus sitting between Norman and I. 

We sat there for a while, Mingus and I mostly goofing off together, taking pictures together and texting Oliver while Norman was busy. It had been maybe an hour before Mingus said he was hungry. 

"I'll go grab us some food" I said standing up. 

"Are you sure?" Norman asked. 

"Yea, no problem" I shrugged. 

"Here" he said handing me his credit card. "I owe you for yesterday" he smiled. 

"Alright" I sighed, quickly slipping the card in my wallet and leaving the table. 

I made my way across the floor, looking around at all the amazing things and all of the cosplayers. There was several yesterday, but there seemed to be much more today. Suddenly a pair of big, pointy, pink ears caught my eye. There was a little girl dressed as Pino from Ergo Proxy. She was sitting on the floor near a restroom looking like she was ready to cry. Worried that she might be lost, I quickly made my way over to her. 

"Hey, is everything ok?" I asked. 

"Everything is fine" she sighed. 

"Where are your parents?" I asked. 

"My daddy is in there" she gestured to the restroom. "He's coming right back." 

"Ok. So what's got you down then?" I asked her. 

"Nothing, its stupid" she huffed. 

"aw, come on" I said sitting on the floor next to her. 

"You're not a pedophile are you" she asked suspiciously. 

"What?! No!" I said incredulously "I was just curious!" 

"Curiosity killed the cat" she said annoyed. 

"You know, you should have been Re-L instead. You don't have the Pino spirit" I chuckled getting to my feet. She looked up at me with wide eyes, opening her mouth to say something. "See you around kid" I said walking away. 

I got some food and some drinks and quickly made my way back to Norman and Mingus. I made my way around the table and quickly unloaded my arms. 

"Food" I said happily, handing Mingus his food and drink. He wasted no time, tearing into the food like he hadn't eaten in a month. I pulled mine out and handed Norman his with his drink. I quickly retrieved his card from my wallet and passed it back to him. 

"Thank you" he said taking the card and putting it away. 

We all ate quickly and Norman got back to his fans. Sean came over and goofed off with Mingus and I when he had a break in his crowd, but went back when more people showed up. A few hours later, the line of people was coming to an end and a familiar little girl caught my eye. It was the girl dressed as Pino at the back of the line with who I assume was her father. I smiled and waved at her and her face lit up in a smile. I guess she was over whatever was bothering her earlier. 

A little while later they finally made it up to the table, the little girl bypassing Norman completely and bouncing straight up to me with excitement. Norman and the girl's father both looked completely confused by that. 

"Hey little Pino!" I chuckled "I see you're feeling better" I said leaning over the table some to see her fully. 

"Yea, thanks to you!" she giggled. "Sorry about earlier, I was mad because no one knew who I was. Everyone thought I was the Energizer Bunny!" she huffed. 

"Well sweetie, your kinda at the wrong convention for that" I chuckled. 

"I know, Daddy said he would take me to the Anime convention in a few months and lots of people will know there!" She exclaimed excitedly. 

"Well there you go!" I chuckled. 

"Sweetie" the girl's father said "I thought you wanted to meet Mr. Reedus" he said in confusion. 

"Oh yea, I forgot" she said turning to Norman. 

I looked over in amusement at Norman and Mingus, who were staring at me completely confused. 

"Don't just sit there" I said to Norman "Meet and greet" 

I watched as Norman did his thing, sighing a picture for the little girl and answering all of her questions. They were just starting to leave when she quickly turned back to Norman and asked another question. 

"Is she your girlfriend?" she asked quickly. He looked at her for a moment before she quickly added "If she isn't, she should be!" 

"She's way too pretty to be my girlfriend" he chuckled. 

"Maybe" she said bluntly, Mingus and I were fighting back laughter at the look on Norman's face. "But I can tell you really like her" she said before turning and quickly leaving. 

"Ouch" Norman chuckled and we lost it. Mingus and I burst out laughing at poor Norman. 

After we calmed down Norman turned to me, arching his eyebrow in amusement. 

"So Anime huh?" he chuckled. 

"You got something against anime?" I asked. 

"Nope!" he said pulling me into a hug. "I won't judge you for being a super nerd" he chuckled. 

"Hater" I said pulling him in for a kiss. 

"Ew, guys! Get a room!" Mingus said covering his eyes dramatically. 

~•~•~•~

Sorry it was kinda short guys, moving day is coming quick so I gotta get finished packing! 

Please remember to like and comment. I'd really really appreciate it. 

Thanks guys!


	12. Questions

Norman had a few interviews to do before we were done for the day so Mingus and I waited, watching from the background, as he talked about his work. One of the interviews was, of course, for The Walking Dead, so Andrew pulled up a chair and joined him for that one. 

We watched quietly as Norman and Andrew did the interview, trying to stifle our laughter as Norman goofed around like a little kid. Once the interview was over Norman came bouncing over to us, clearly in a good mood.

“So, you ready?” He asked. 

“Ready for what?” I asked curiously.

“You didn’t tell her yet?” Mingus asked Norman.

“Tell me what?” I looked at Mingus confused.

“I’m having a get together at my place tonight, everyone from the cast will be there” Norman said. 

“Sounds like fun” I smiled up at him.

“Good, let’s get going!” he said glancing over at Andrew before leading us to the exit.

Mingus wanted to ride with Norman on the motorcycle so I gladly let him, preferring to ride in the warm car with Andrew instead. Nothing against motorcycles, but I think they’re more fun when your not about to freeze to death. 

Andrew and I sat in comfortable silence as we followed Norman down the busy city streets. I couldn’t help but laugh at Mingus who would turn around and wave at us excitedly at every red light.

After a little while Norman and Andrew pulled over, parallel parking near a tall building. We got out of the car and walked over to Norman and Mingus who were getting off of the motorcycle. 

“You sure looked like you were having fun” I chuckled ruffling Mingus’ hair.

“Cut it out!” he said, smacking my hand away. “Lets go inside, I’m freezing” he said, wrapping his arms around himself.

We all chuckled at him and followed Norman as he lead the way inside. When we stepped inside my jaw nearly hit the floor. The lobby was absolutely beautiful. I could only imagine how nice Norman’s apartment was if just the lobby was this nice. We all got on the elevator, which was twice the size of the one in my building, and rode it up. The elevator doors pulled open, revealing a long hallway decorated with several paintings and photographs. They were all really unusual, they weren’t what you would expect to see hanging in a hallway of an apartment building. 

I trailed a little behind the guys, looking at the art when one picture caught my eye. I stopped to look at the photograph of a dead raccoon on the side of a highway. What a strange picture to have hanging in a hallway, what kind of apartment building was this? Apparently I had been standing there a little too long because next thing I knew a strong arm wrapped around my waist and I was being lifted off the ground. I yelped as Norman slung me over his shoulder, laughing as he carried me down the hallway. He stepped through the door carefully and set me down before shutting the door.

“That wasn’t necessary, you know” I said looking up at him. I glanced around at his apartment and couldn’t believe how white it was. He didn’t strike me as someone who would like so much white everywhere.

“I know” he chuckled, pulling me in for a kiss.

“Riley-Ew” Mingus said as he came running up to us. “Seriously you guys, get a room!” 

“Weren’t you the one cheering earlier?” I asked him.

“Whatever! Come on Riley, I wanna show you something!” he grabbed my hand and drug me down the hall to his bedroom. He pulled me into the room and I was surprised to see several crossbows hanging on the wall over his bed.

“What’s that about?” I asked, looking up at the crossbows.

“They’re the crossbows my dad used from The Walking Dead” he said looking at me like it was obvious. “He always brings one home for me after every season.”

“Oh” I said “I forgot about the crossbow thing.” 

“How do you forget? Don’t you watch the show?” He asked.

“No, not really. I’ve only seen one episode and he was barely even in it” I shrugged.

Mingus' eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. He snatched my hand and quickly drug me back into the living room where Norman and Andrew were laughing with a few other people that must have shown up while we were back there. 

“Wait, didn’t you want to show me something?” I asked curiously but he didn’t answer.

“Dad!” Mingus said in a serious tone, catching everyone’s attention.

“What’s up?” Norman asked curiously.

“Riley has never seen The Walking Dead!” He said accusingly, pulling me forward and pointing to me. Everyone looked pretty surprised at his announcement.

“Yea, I know” Norman chuckled.

“Really?” he asked surprised.

“Is it really that big of a deal?” I looked down at Mingus curiously. 

“Of course it’s a big deal!” He huffed. 

“Wait, so you’ve really never seen it?” the girl from this morning, Lauren, asked me curiously.

“Well, I saw one episode a couple months ago…I don’t think that really counts though” I shrugged.

“So how do you know Norman then?” She looked confused “We all thought you were one of his fans or something” 

I glanced at Norman questioningly and he just shrugged in response, him and Andrew sharing an amused look. Clearly he was the only one Norman had talked to about the whole situation.

“She was my teacher bu-” I nudged Mingus lightly in the side with my elbow.

“I work at Mingus' school” I said smiling. “We bumped into each other at a restaurant one day, that’s how we met.” 

“Wow, So did you know who he was?” She asked.

“Not at first” I chuckled “It took me a while to figure out why he looked so familiar.” 

“What’s it Oliver says?” Norman asked in amusement. “You live under a rock?” 

“Yea” I shrugged, looking down at my shoes when everyone laughed. 

“Aww, sweetie, don’t be embarrassed!” Lauren said pulling me into a bone crushing hug. “Its just kind of refreshing to meet someone who doesn’t just want to be around because of the show.”

“Thanks” I sighed when she released me from her death hug.

I spent the next few hours meeting the cast of the show with Norman never leaving my side for more than a minute. It was nice since there were so many people that showed up, it was pretty overwhelming. I Was having a lot of fun laughing and talking with everyone, we even were able to video chat with Oliver for a few minutes which totally made his night. I paused when I heard Avenged Sevenfold randomly start playing, feeling my phone vibrate. 

“Dang Oli, messing with my ringtone again” I mumbled, retrieving the phone and answering it quickly. 

“Miss Riley Spencer?” A man’s voice came across, sounding really serious.

“Yes?” I asked curiously, excusing myself so I could hear him better. I went down the hallway and went into Mingus’ room, shutting the door and sitting on the bed. 

“My name is Bryan Sanders. I’m currently in charge of your case in regards to the Reedus' and your job with the school” he said.

“My case? I thought it was just a background check?” I asked feeling my stomach tighten nervously.

“It’s just a general term” he said. “Do you have a minute, I need to ask you some questions”

“Ok, sure” I said.

“When did you move to New York?” He questioned.

“About two months ago” I said.

“And when did you first meet Mr. Reedus” 

“Two months ago” I said.

“Where did you live before you moved here?” he asked.

“Louisiana” 

“And what reason did you have to move all the way up to New York?” he asked almost accusingly.

“My son” I said softly. “His adoptive Father got transferred here with his job, so they were moving. They asked me if I wanted to come too, so I did.” 

“If he is adopted, why would you need to move also?” 

“Its an open adoption” I said softly.

“Would you be able to provide documentation to prove your claims” he asked.

“Yes, his mother and I both have copies of the paperwork” I said. 

“Alright, you’ll need to fax copies of those over to me tomorrow” he said.

“Ok” 

“I just have a few more questions” he said. “I’ve done some digging around online and I’ve come across some interesting photographs” he said. I instantly felt like I was going to throw up, knowing they had to be from this weekend.

“What exactly is your relationship with Mr. Reedus?” He asked curiously.

“I-I…” how was I supposed to tell him that when I didn’t even know yet. “I’m not really sure” I confessed. 

“Well, its pretty clear that the two of you are very close” he said.

“I don’t really have an answer for you, but I do know that I really care about both Norman and Mingus very much.”

“Is that so” he said sounding skeptical.

“Yes” I stated firmly, getting a little frustrated.

“And do you care about Mr. Reedus' career?” he asked.

“That’s a loaded question” I said. 

“What makes you say that?” He asked

“Because if I say no, you’ll say I don’t really care because I don’t support him. And if I say yes, you’ll say I only care about his social status and his money”

“So, your interested in his money” he said quickly.

“What? No, I never said that!” I said.

“You were the one who just brought it up, clearly its on your mind” he said.

“Because that’s what this whole thing is about!” I huffed angrily. 

“So, it is about money” he said.

“What? No! You’re twisting my words!” 

“I think we’re done here. Have a good evening Miss Spencer” he said quickly hanging up. 

I looked down at my phone in total confusion. He totally twisted around what I had said. It’s almost like he was trying to get me fired or something. 

I sat there for a few minutes, taking some deep breaths to calm myself down. I had gotten my emotions under control, but needless to say, I wasn’t exactly in the mood to socialize anymore. I stood up from Mingus’ bed and fixed the blanket before heading back out to the living room. 

My heart dropped into my stomach when I saw Helena standing in the front doorway talking to Norman and Mingus. She really was the last person I wanted to deal with right now. I was about to duck back into the bedroom but Mingus noticed me.

“Riley!” he said excitedly. “I was wondering where you went! My mom came to pick me up and I wanted to say bye to you!” he said pulling me into a hug.

“What is she doing here?” Helena asked Norman angrily.

“Helena” he sighed in frustration.

“It’s ok, I was just leaving” I said grabbing my jacket and pulling it on. 

“Wait, you’re leaving already?” he turned to me in confusion.

“Why is she even here?” Helena huffed.

“Yea, I’m tired” I smiled up at him, ignoring Helena.

“Want me to drive you?” He asked.

“No, I’ll get a cab” I said

“Alright, be careful” he said pulling me into a hug and giving me a quick kiss. “Text me when you get home.”

“Ok” I chuckled as I stepped past Helena, who had a surprised expression on her face, and walked to the elevator.

I couldn’t help but feel bad as I heard her angry yelling from all the way down the hallway as I stepped onto the elevator.

~•~•~•~  
Sorry it’s not much guys, but I’ll try to have another chapter up in the next few days. I hope y’all like it! 

Please remember to Like and comment, it always makes me super happy! I love hearing from you guys!!

Thank you! :)


	13. Chicken and Chatting

I caught a cab and was relaxing in the back seat while the driver took me home. Suddenly my phone started vibrating. I looked at it in surprise when I realized I had gotten texts from Melissa and Kim both at the same time. 

I opened Melissa’s first and blinked in surprise. It was a picture someone had taken of Norman and I kissing at the convention earlier with Mingus standing to the side laughing. I scrolled down and read the message attached.

M: Aww!! You NEED to call me!!

I chuckled and texted back that I’d call her as soon as I got home. I opened the text from Kim next, rolling my eyes when it was the same picture. I reluctantly scrolled down to see what she had to say.

K: OH MY GOD!! You lucky bitch! You have to tell me everything, I need to live vicariously through you! But not tonight, I’m working. Call me tomorrow k. Love you!!

I laughed quietly as I read her basically having a full conversation in one text. I typed a quick reply and put my phone back into my pocket. 

The cab pulled over in front of my building and I quickly paid the driver before heading inside. I texted Norman while I was in the elevator to let him know I was home safe, stepping out when the doors opened and quickly going to my apartment. 

Once I was inside I locked the door and took off my jacket, hanging up by the door and grabbing my phone. I dialed Melissa’s number and listened to it ring. 

“Hello” she sang excitedly when she answered.

“Hey” I chuckled. 

“Sooo” she said expectantly.

“Sooo what?” I asked.

“Oh come on Riley! You gotta tell me everything! Last I heard he was out of town and now all of a sudden I see pictures of you two being absolutely adorable online!” 

“Adorable?” I asked.

“Yes!” she giggled “I swear I squealed like a fangirl when I saw that picture Riley! And I’m not the only one, have you even looked online yet?”

“No, I haven’t” I said plopping down on my couch.

“The rumors have been crazy for weeks but now-”

“Wait? Weeks? This literally just happened today” I said cutting her off.

“Yea but Norman posted that picture on his Instagram a while back, remember?” she asked.

“Uh, no…what are you talking about?” I asked confused.

“I thought you knew! Hold on” she said. 

I heard tapping as she did something on her phone and a few seconds later my phone buzzed that I had a text. I put it on speaker as I opened the message Melissa sent me, clicking on the link in the message. Immediately Norman’s Instagram popped up to a picture of me, completely covered in feathers, with bright pink cheeks and a huge smile because I was laughing. 

“Oh my god” I buried my face in my hands in embarrassment.

“Aww, come on Riley, its actually adorable. You look so happy” she sighed.

“Of course I look happy, I was dying laughing, who doesn’t look happy when they’re laughing?” I sighed looking back at the picture of me. There was no caption, just an emoji of a chicken. I laughed when I saw the chicken, thinking back to when I thought I looked like I had on a chicken costume.

“I know people look happy when they’re laughing, but even in the last few weeks I can tell how much happier you’ve been in general” she said.

“I guess so” I sighed as I scrolled through the comments on the picture, surprised at how many people questioned who I was and some of the wild theories they came up with.

“I gotta get offa here, talk to you later” she sighed. 

“Alright, bye” I said and hung up the phone. I decided to follow Norman on Instagram just in case any more unexpected pictures of me showed up, at least I’d know about it. I scrolled back to the picture and typed a quick comment “How did you even get this? You sneaky shit :P” and closed the app. I shut off all the lights and headed to my room, quickly changing into my pajamas and curling up in bed.

I got up early the next morning, reluctantly pulling myself out of bed and getting ready for work.

The day passed slower than molasses and I was more than happy to be off of work. I honestly wasn’t even expecting to still have a job this morning but the whole day passed without a single incident. 

Once I got home I let my hair down and changed out of my work clothes and pulled on some pajama pants and an old oversize Pink Floyd t-shirt that I stole from my brother years ago. 

I flopped down on my couch and turned on the SciFy channel since they were playing Firefly again. I loved that show, I had seen it a hundred times and I would never get tired of it. Plus, Nathan Fillion, was pretty easy on the eyes too. I chuckled to myself at that thought. I had Norman freaking Reedus, and here I was thinking about Nathan Fillion. 

A sudden knocking on my door caught my attention and I reluctantly pulled myself away from the show to answer the door. I swung the door open, surprised to see Norman standing there grinning at me like the Cheshire cat. 

“That’s sexy” he chuckled looking down at my oversize, worn out, old pajamas.

“What are you doing here?” I asked curiously, closing the door after he stepped inside.

“I wanted to check on you, you left so fast last night, and with Helena there…” he sighed.

“Sorry about leaving you there with her yelling” I said quietly. 

“Hey, its ok” he said pulling me to him and holding me tightly. “Actually I think some good might have come of it” he chuckled.

“How’s that?” I asked curiously. “She sounded pretty pissed when I left” 

“I finally got her to calm down long enough to tell her how everything really happened, instead of whatever crazy shit she was thinking up” he said smiling down at me. 

“So, she knows everything?” I asked curiously.

“Everything” he stated “I hope you don’t mind, but I had to tell her about Oliver too. She wouldn’t let it go until I did” he sighed. 

“Its ok, not like it’s a secret or anything” I said. “So, what does this mean?” 

“Well, she quit yelling” he chuckled. “She really didn’t say too much, just said goodnight and took Mingus home” he shrugged. 

“I wonder if she is going to drop the issue with the school” I sighed.

“That would be nice” he sighed. “I hate always worrying if you’re going to lose your job just because of me” 

“Just because of you?” I questioned curiously.

“I’m not stupid Riley, I knew you were trying your best to avoid me and Mingus so you wouldn’t get into trouble” he said and I sighed sadly. 

“I know I didn’t really make it easy for you” he continued “I was selfish, I just couldn’t stay away” 

“I could have said no” I said softly. 

“You probably should have” he sighed.

“I’m glad I didn’t” I said grabbing a handful of his shaggy brown hair, pulling him closer and pressing my lips to his. 

He chuckled lightly, tightening his hold on me. I sighed softly as he deepened the kiss, pressing his lips against mine harder and caressing my tongue with his. He pulled back some as my phone started ringing from the living room.

“Just leave it” I mumbled pulling him back to me roughly. He chuckled and began trailing heated kisses across my cheek and down my neck. I groaned in frustration when my phone continued ringing non stop as someone continued calling me repeatedly. 

“Just get it” Norman said with an amused smile. 

I walked over and answered the phone, putting it on speaker as Norman pulled me down on the couch with him.

“Hello?” I said a little irritated.

“Danny! What the fuck took you so long?” My brother Josh growled. “We’ve got a serious code red situation here!” 

“Shit, what now?” I sighed in frustration.

“Some asshole case worker called Mom last night. What the fuck are you doing up there Danny?” He sighed.

“What did he tell her?” I groaned in frustration.

“He said you’re about to lose your job because you’re stalking some rich dude, using his kid to get to him for his money” he sighed.

“What?” Norman said angrily.

“Who was that?” Josh asked curiously.

“The guy she’s supposedly stalking” he said “When did you talk to this case worker?” He asked me.

“Last night, at your party” I said looking up at him. “He wanted to ask me some questions, then completely twisted around everything I said” I sighed.

“You should have let me talk to that asshole” he said wrapping his arms around me tightly.

“Danny, moms fuckin pissed. She’s literally buying plane tickets as we speak” he said.

“Great, just what I need right now” I sighed quietly. “Please tell me your coming too bubba, I need some favorite child damage control” 

“Fuck yea I’m coming. Gotta take care of my baby sister.” He chuckled. 

“Who are you talking to?” I heard my mother’s voice in the background.

“Ok love you too Grandma! Bye!” Josh said quickly and hung up.

I stared down at my phone in frustration. Did I kick kittens in my past life or something? Why the hell does the world need to keep trying to kick my ass lately.

“So, Danny huh?” Norman chuckled.

“My middle name is Danielle” I said. “What am I gonna do?” I groaned.

“It’ll be alright” he chuckled. 

“No it wont” I sighed.

“Yea it will” he said kissing the top of my head gently. 

I turned my head back toward the TV, watching the opening credits to the next episode of Firefly that was starting.

“Ok, this just won’t do” Norman said.

“What?” I asked looking up at him. 

“You’ll watch Firefly, but not The Walking Dead?” He chuckled.

“I never said I wouldn’t watch it, just that I haven’t” I chuckled.

“That settles it then” he said pulling out his phone and getting online. 

“What are you doing?” I asked curiously.

“I’m buying you all the seasons on DVD so you can catch up” he chuckled.

“What? No, you don’t have to do that” I said quickly.

“Too late!” He laughed as he showed me the order confirmation.

“That was so much money, what if I don’t even like it? It’ll have been a waste” I sighed.

“You’re gonna like it, trust me” he said.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Because I’M in it of course” he said with a laugh.

“Right” I laughed, snuggling into Norman’s side and turning back to the TV.

~•~•~•~  
Sorry another short one but at least it was a quick update. 

Thanks for all the votes and comments, you guys are awesome :)


	14. Flooded

The next few days passed uneventfully. I had no idea what was going on with my job, but I hadn’t heard anything from anyone since that phone call. I will just keep going to work every day like normal until I get the news. It was already Thursday, the week had passed really quickly, but I was dreading when my family would show up Friday night. 

Mrs. Dennis had already gone out on maternity leave and I had taken over the class, much to my surprise since I was so sure I was being fired. I sighed heavily, laying my head down on the desk and closing my eyes. It was my off period and instead of getting lunch, I decided to take a nap instead. I hadn’t been sleeping very well lately, the pipes that ran between my bedroom and bathroom had been making God awful clanking noises all week, keeping me awake. I called the building maintenance worker and he said it was normal and it was just because it was an old building. 

I was able to take a short nap before the bell rang and classes continued. I finished out the rest of my classes feeling a little better from my nap. When the day was over I gathered up a large stack of papers that needed grading and put them into my work bag and quickly headed home. 

As soon as I got home I locked the door, tossed my things down, and changed into some pajamas. I flopped down into bed, deciding to take a nap for a while before getting to work on grading papers.

I was startled awake by the familiar clanking noises. I froze when I heard a new noise, it sounded like running water. Quickly turning on my lamp, I stepped out of the bed, my feet meeting with sopping wet carpet. I noticed the wall separating the bedroom and the bathroom was discolored and dripping.

“Crap” I huffed. 

I grabbed my cellphone, surprised to see it was already one in the morning. I called the emergency number for the maintenance man and let him know about the problem. He explained to me how to shut off the water until he could get there. 

I tossed my phone on the bed and grabbed some towels, doing my best to soak up as much water as I could. I squeezed the water out of them and hung them over the shower curtain until I could go do some laundry. 

When the maintenance guy finally showed up, I showed him where the problem was. He touched the wall, looking surprised when he saw how saturated drywall was. He cut out all of the wet drywall, revealing a pipe that had burst.

“This isn’t good” he sighed.

“Is it going to be hard to fix?” I asked.

“The pipe itself, no. The water damage, yes.” He said wiping his hands on his pants and standing up.

“So, what do I need to do then?” I asked.

“You’ll have to find somewhere to stay while we work” he said “It’ll take about two weeks” 

“Two weeks?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes. We’ll need to remove the carpet and damaged drywall. Then we need to let everything dry out completely before we can come in and repair everything and replace the carpet.” He said.

“Alright” I sighed. 

“Sorry for the inconvenience” he said apologetically.

“Its ok, thank you for coming out here in the middle of the night” I said. 

He nodded and gathered his things together to leave. Once he was gone I packed a duffel bag with clothes and necessities, shuddering as my feet squished across the still soaked carpet. I zipped the bag shut and sat on the bed, picking up my phone and opening up my contacts. I knew Melissa and Don would have no problem letting me crash on their couch while the work was being done. I scrolled through, quickly tapping Melissa’s name and putting the phone to my ear. I hoped she would answer considering it was two thirty in the morning now. 

“Hello?” I paused in confusion when Norman’s sleepy voice came across the phone. I glanced at the screen and realized I hit his name by mistake instead of Melissa’s. Oops.

“Hello?” he asked again.

“Hey, sorry” I spoke up. 

“Riley?” he asked sounding more alert now.

“I accidentally dialed the wrong number” I chuckled.

“Is everything ok?” He asked.

“Not really” I sighed, rubbing my face in frustration. “A pipe broke and flooded my apartment. I was trying to call Oliver’s mom to see if I could crash there.”

“Damn. You really have shit luck lately” he chuckled. “Why don’t you stay at my place” he suggested.

“I don’t want to be in your way” I said.

“You won’t be in the way” he said “Besides, I’m already up now, why go waking up more people?” he teased.

“Alright, fine” I chuckled. 

“Good, I’ll be there in a few minutes” he said hanging up before I could argue with him. 

I put my phone in my pocket and carried my bag to the living room, setting it down next to my work bag and laying down on the couch to wait for Norman. 

A little while later I heard a knock on the door so I got up to answer it. A smile crept onto my face when I opened the door. Norman was standing there with messy bed head, wearing a hoodie, pajama pants, and bunny slippers. 

“Wow” I chuckled. “Nice feet.”

“Hey, everybody needs a pair of bunny slippers” he said. “You ready to go?” 

“Yep” I said pulling on my jacket and grabbing my bags. 

He took the duffel bag from me and slung it over his shoulder as we left my apartment. Once we got outside I was glad to see he had brought a car instead of his motorcycle to come get me. I sighed in relief when we finally made it back to his apartment. I set my work bag down near the door and took off my jacket. 

“Come on” Norman said wrapping his arm around me and leading me down the hall. We walked past Mingus’ room and the bathroom to the last door in the hall. He swung it open, revealing a decent size bedroom with another bathroom attached. He put my bag down in front of the dresser and pulled me down into the soft king size bed with him. 

I jumped when a chubby black cat jumped into the bed with us and snuggled up against Norman.

“I didn’t know you had a cat” I said reaching over to pet it softly.

“That’s Eye In The Dark” he mumbled.

“That’s a mouth full” I chuckled as the cat purred and rubbed he’s head against my hand. “sweet minew” I sighed.

“What’s that?” he asked softly.

“It means cat” I answered quietly. 

“Oh” he said with a sleepy smile.

“Are you sure your ok with this?” I sighed, feeling my eyes getting heavy already.

“Mhmm” he mumbled, pulling the blankets over us and wrapping his arms around me tightly. 

I heard his breathing become slow and steady and I knew he was already asleep. He must have been really tired. I felt bad for accidentally waking him up, but I couldn’t deny that this was way better than Melissa and Don’s couch. I closed my eyes, listening to his heartbeat and steady breathing, and slowly drifted off.

I woke up extremely early the next morning, four a.m. actually. I laid there for a few minutes listening to Norman mumble in his sleep.

“Fucking crossbow” he mumbled. I giggled lightly listening to him curse his crossbow in his dream.

I eventually pulled myself out of bed and grabbed my things to take a shower. I decided to get ready for work while I was at it, pulling my hair back, doing my usual make up and getting dressed. When I was done I slipped out of the bedroom so I wouldn’t disturb Norman and headed to the living room. 

I grabbed my work bag, pulling out the stack of papers that I had forgot to grade and a red pen. I moved to the bar counter, sitting down on a stool, popping open my pen and getting to work. I had made it through about half the stack of papers when my phone started ringing.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hey baby girl” I heard my dad say.

“Hey Daddy” I said, setting the phone down on speaker and continuing to grade papers. “What’s up?”

“Just gettin into the car to drop your momma and Josh at the airport” he said and I could hear the car starting through the phone. 

“You’re not coming too?” I asked.

“Nah, gotta take care of some business at the shop. Gotta get that little shit Aaron under control before I have to pass him a slap” he chuckled.

“Your still having problems with that idiot?” I sighed, jumping slightly when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist. I turned my head toward Norman as he pressed his lips to mine in a quick kiss.

“Mais! Let me tell you! That little couyon nearly dropped a truck off the lift the other day!” He said. “He gonna get somebody killed”

“You should have fired him” I said watching Norman’s back as he started a pot of coffee. The cat jumped onto the counter and Norman picked him up, cradling him in his arms like a baby, and petting him.

“I would, but his momma and them are having a hard time right now with his dad in the hospital” he sighed. 

“Hey Danny!” I heard Josh in the background “You better have me somewhere comfortable to sleep tonight, I ain’t sleeping on no couch!” he laughed. “I’ll put your ass on the floor!”

“Oh, yea…about that…y’all are going have to get a hotel” I said hesitantly.

“What? Are you too good to let us stay at your place or something?” my mother piped up.

“No, my apartment got flooded last night and I can’t stay there while they’re fixing it” I said.

“So where are you staying then?” my mom asked.

“With Don and Melissa” I said quickly, glancing up at Norman who had an amused look on his face, and shrugging.

“Boy I swear! I ain’t made of money you know!” she huffed. 

“Sorry” I mumbled going back to grading the last of the papers.

“Alright boo, let me let you go. Your momma and Josh should be getting in about six.” He said.

“Why so late if your already dropping them off?” I asked curiously.

“They got a layover for a while in Tennessee” he said. 

“Oh, alright” I said. “I’ll talk to you later”

“Bye Sweetheart” he said and hung up the phone. 

“Wow” Norman chuckled. “Your dad’s accent is much stronger than yours”

“Yea, I know” I said “You should hear my Papaw, I even have a hard time understanding him sometimes” I laughed as I gathered up my papers, stacking them neatly and putting them and the red pen away.

“Why are you up so early by the way?” he asked curiously.

“Couldn’t sleep anymore” I shrugged. “I went to bed as soon as I got off of work yesterday and slept until my apartment flooded. Then slept more here” I chuckled.

He nodded and put the cat down so he could pour some coffee. He handed me a cup and picked his up, taking a sip. We drank our coffee quietly until I had to leave for work. 

“Hold on, I’ll go change and drive you” he said.

“You don’t have to-” I paused when he started singing to himself loudly to show that he wasn’t listening to me.

I chuckled and got my jacket on, making sure I had all of my things together. A minute later Norman came back and we left so he could get me to work on time. 

When he pulled the car over in front of the school, he quickly wrapped an arm around me and pulled me against him, crushing my lips with his. I sighed into the kiss as our lips moved in synch. We separated a moment later and I sat there, just looking into his eyes. 

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a loud knock came from the window on my side. I turned and was met with Mingus' smirking face as he waved at us. We both got out of the car, Norman hugging Mingus tightly. I looked up to see Helena walking over to us, stopping a few feet away. 

“Hey” Norman said looking over at Helena.

“Hey” she replied. “Can Mingus stay with you this weekend? I need to go out of town.”

“Yea, sure” he said smiling down at Mingus. 

“Thank you” she said turning to look at me. I held eye contact with her, neither of us saying anything for a minute. She looked me up and down before nodding at me slightly and walking away. Weird. 

“That was different” Norman chuckled lightly.

“Yea” I said, secretly happy that she didn’t yell at us again. “Come on, were gonna be late” I said to Mingus.

“Ok” he said happily, turning and going ahead of me into the school.

“I’ll pick you two up this afternoon” Norman said leaning in and giving me another kiss.

“Alright” I said before walking inside.

~•~•~•~  
Can I just say that trying to write out the Cajun accent is freaking difficult. I want to write it out how its said, but then its just a bunch of chaos that’s hard to read. 

I tried to go with the compromise of writing it how its spoken, but spelling out the words instead of writing them how they’re said. It was much less confusing to read that way. 

Also for the few Cajun French words or phrases I have or will have, some of them have no correct spelling. I wanna beat my head against the wall. I’ve heard these words my whole life, but I’ll be damned if anyone can agree on how to freaking spell them. I found three different spellings for the word “Minew”.

What have I gotten myself into. 

As always, thanks for reading! Please remember to comment and vote.

Thanks guys!


	15. Face The Music

The day passed quickly and before I knew it, it was three o’clock. I watched in amusement as the students rushed out at the sound of the final bell, all in a hurry to start their weekend. Once the room was empty I began gathering my things, pausing when I heard a knock on the door. I looked up, surprised to see Principal Sims standing in the doorway with a sour expression on his face. 

“Miss Spencer, I need to see you in my office please” he said.

“Oh, ok” I said feeling my stomach twist in knots. This was it, I knew it. I had been waiting for it all week and now it was finally here. I quickly texted Norman to go home without me because I was held up and followed Principal Sims to his office. 

When we entered I wasn’t surprised to see Superintendent Peterson sitting at the desk, waiting for us as well as another younger looking man sitting in the chair Helena had sat in the last time I was here. 

“Have a seat please” Principal Sims said, sitting in one of the empty chairs behind the large desk. I sat in an empty chair across from him, silently awaiting the news. 

“Miss Spencer” Superintendent Peterson greeted me with a curt nod. “This is Bryan Sanders, I believe you spoke with him on the phone before” he said gesturing to the other man sitting beside me.

I turned to face him quickly, trying not to let anger show on my face as I greeted him with a nod. I felt fire course through my veins at the smug expression on his face. 

“We’ve called you here today to discuss your situation” Principal Sims said.

“Mr. Sanders has gathered some pretty interesting information” Superintendent Peterson said shuffling through a stack of papers. “Can you explain these please” he said handing me a stack of photographs. 

I looked through them, completely surprised to see more than just the ones from the convention. There were some from the day we walked through Central Park, there was one from when Norman bought me and Oliver ice cream, there was even a copy of the one from Norman’s Instagram of me covered in feathers. 

“The thing about famous people” Bryan said with his stupid smug smile “is there’s always someone nearby with a camera.” 

“It’s pretty clear that despite the knowledge of your situation, you continued to keep in contact with Mr. Reedus and his son. You completely disregarded Ms. Christensen’s wishes for you to stay away from her son, to the point of blatant PDA directly in front of the boy.” Peterson said tossing down the picture of Norman and I kissing at the convention. “This kind of behavior is completely unprofessional and we will not tolerate it.” 

“I’m sorry Riley” Principal Sims said quietly. 

I nodded silently and stood from my chair to leave. I stepped out of the office, trying to ignore the fact that someone had followed me out. I continued walking down the hallway, pausing when whoever followed me started talking.

“Its your own fault you know. Maybe you should think twice next time before you try using a child for your selfish desires” Bryan sneered.

I don’t know what came over me, I’m not usually a violent person, but before I could stop myself I spun around and slammed my fist into Bryan's stupid face.

“Sonofa-ow!” I hissed holding my throbbing hand. 

“What the fuck, you stupid bitch!” Bryan cried, holding his bloody nose gingerly.

I ignored him, turning toward the door and walking out quickly while cradling my bruised hand. I managed to catch a cab back to Norman’s apartment but no one was home when I got there. I checked my phone and realized I had a text from Norman.

N: Got called for an interview. Took Mingus with me. Might take a while sorry

I replied ok and went to the bedroom to change my clothes before I had to leave to go pick up my Mom and brother from the airport. Getting dressed was difficult with my throbbing hand, but I’d managed to get it done. I went into the kitchen and got a plastic bag and filled it with ice. I sat in the kitchen, playing on my phone and icing my hand until it was time for me to meet my family. 

I pushed my way through the crowded airport to get to the gate that they were supposed to be coming in. I only had to wait a few minutes before people started pouring out of the gate. I scanned the crowd, waiting for any sign of my family. When I caught sight of my brother, his tall frame easy to spot in the crowd, I waved to catch his attention. He quickly lead our mom over to me and snatched me in a bone crushing hug.

“Baby Danny!” he chuckled squeezing me painfully.

“Joshie-poo” I wheezed in his tight grip, gasping when he finally released me. 

“Josh, please behave like an adult while we’re in public “ mom huffed.

We went to the baggage claim area and grabbed their luggage before exiting the crowded airport. We claimed one of the cabs waiting out front, putting the bags in the trunk and heading over to the hotel so they could check in. I helped them carry their things to their room, being careful not to lift anything too heavy with my hurt hand.

“So, when are we eating?” Josh asked as soon as we entered the room. 

“Whenever y’all want” I shrugged, plopping down on one of the beds.

“We just spent the whole day in airports and on planes, I need to wash up first” my mom said grabbing her bag and going into the bathroom. 

“Alright Danny, we need to talk before momma gets her claws into you” Josh sighed.

“I guess” I mumbled, staring up at the ceiling. 

“I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.” He said.

“It so stupid!” I huffed sitting up quickly and staring at Josh. “I got a job at the middle school down the road from my house and things were ok, then I find out this kid in my class is a famous actor’s son and I just thought, wow he’s actually a really good kid compared to what you would usually think of a kid like that. Ya know?” Josh nodded, watching me carefully as I continued ranting. I quickly recounted everything that happened all the way up until today, careful to leave any names out for the time being. 

“Damn, baby sister!” he said shaking his head. “So you lost your job because of this guy, and I’m not supposed to be pissed about it?” 

“Exactly, it was my own fault, not his.” I shrugged. 

“Danny! He knew, and he still went after you” he said seriously.

“Weeeellllll….” I said looking to the side.

“Seriously?” he groaned, rubbing his face. “Don’t you have any self control?” 

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew who it was” I mumbled.

“Well, who is it then?” he asked seriously.

“I’m not telling” I said. “I need that ace in my sleeve for when moms tearing me a new one”

“Speak of the devil” he mumbled as our mom came out of the bathroom freshly showered and looking much better. “Are you ready yet?” he asked impatiently.

“Yes” she said grabbing her purse and ushering us out the door.

My brother picked some sports bar that he “has always wanted to go to” for us to eat at. We had to wait for a while because it was completely packed but we eventually got seated. 

“Alright, Riley Danielle. It’s time for us to talk” my mom said.

“Aww, mom. Can’t it wait until after we eat?” Josh groaned. 

“No. Now, ya wanna tell me what the hell you been doing up here?” she asked.

“Nothing” I sighed “It was all just a really big misunderstanding.”

“How does a misunderstanding get turned into me getting phone calls about my daughter stalking some poor man?” she huffed.

“I’m not stalking him!” I sighed in frustration.

“Why would someone call me out of the blue to accuse you of stalking someone if it weren’t true?” She asked angrily.

“Mom, she’s telling the truth” Josh jumped in.

“And how would you know?” She asked skeptically.

“Because, I called her the other day and he was there, he even said it himself that it was a lie” he said in my defense.

“Well, where is this guy then?” She asked me.

“He’s busy I think” I shrugged.

“Yea” she said flatly, clearly not believing me. 

“Look mom, it doesn’t even matter anymore, the situation has been handled and its over now.” I said.

“And exactly how was it handled?” she asked sternly. “They said you were going to lose your job!” 

“It doesn’t matter, its done” I sighed.

“Riley!” she hissed. “I knew this was a bad idea. You’ve completely thrown away all your hard work! You wasted thousands of dollars going to college so you could work for two months then throw away your career over some guy!”

“He’s not just some guy!” I argued.

“Well, who is he then?” She asked again. 

“Ho-ly shit” Josh said looking across the restaurant.

“What?” My mom and I both said looking to where he was pointing.

Of course, there was Norman and Mingus, sitting at a table across the restaurant. Norman was talking to a guy who had a camera set up while Mingus was going to town on some cheese fries. I quickly looked away while my mom and Josh continued to gawk at them. 

“Would y’all stop, you look ridiculous” I sighed. 

“How can you say that?” Josh whipped his head around to look at me “That’s Norman freaking Reedus!” 

“Yea, I’m aware” I said flatly, looking down at the menu to decide what I wanted to eat.

“Come on Danny, I know you don’t follow famous people, but you can’t say you’re not excited to be in the same room as Norman Reedus” Josh chuckled. “You’ve seen The Boondock Saints like a hundred times” he laughed.

I just shrugged looking up when the waitress came. She politely took our order, giggling when she noticed my mom and Josh sneaking glances across the room. I sighed when she left, looking down at the table since I no longer had a menu to pretend to read.

“Don’t think we’re done talking about this Riley” my mom started again.

“We don’t need to talk about this mom, I’m twenty-six years old for God sakes! I’m not a child anymore” I snapped.

“Well, you’re sure not acting like an adult. How irresponsible can you be to throw away your entire career over a guy!” she said. “And one that you feel the need to hide from your family too!”

“Mom! Would you just stop please!” Josh pleaded. “Riley told me what happened and I’m telling you, this isn’t as bad as you think it is” Josh said, trying to stand up for me but not sounding too convinced himself.

“And how, please tell me, is this not that bad?” she turned to Josh.

“Well, for starters, she wasn’t stalking the guy. Like she said it was a misunderstanding” Josh said.

“And?” she asked expectantly.

“And, uh” Josh paused, him and mom both looking behind me at something. Well, someone anyway. 

I turned around to see Mingus standing behind me with a weird look on his face.

“Hey, what are you doing over here?” I asked him quietly.

“I thought I saw you across the room so I wanted to come say hi” he shrugged. “Why didn’t you ride home with me and Dad today?” he asked plopping down in a chair next to me.

“I got held up. Didn’t want to keep you guys waiting” I said. I chanced a look at my mom and brother, the look on their faces was priceless. It took everything in me not to bust out laughing at them.

“Is this your family?” Mingus asked glancing over at them also.

“Yea, that’s my mom Brenda” I said pointing to her, “and that’s my big brother Joshua. Guys, this is Mingus” I introduced.

“It’s nice to meet you!” Mingus said politely with a big smile. 

“Nice to meet you too” they both said trying to get their shock under control.

“I gotta get back to Dad, I didn’t tell him I was coming over here” Mingus said to me “but he should be done soon ok?” 

“Alright, go back to your cheese fries” I said watching as he got up and walked back over to Norman’s table.

“Danny, what the fuck?” Josh said once Mingus was gone.

“What?” I shrugged. “I told you already that it was a famous guy and his son”

“No, that’s all you said was it was some famous guy” he said. “You left out the part where that famous guy was Norman Reedus!” 

“I know he is your secret man crush, but calm down” I sighed.

“So, he’s the guy?” my mom asked in disbelief.

“Yea” I sighed.

She didn’t say anything else, just sat there with an unreadable expression on her face. A few seconds later Mingus was walking back over to our table excitedly with Norman in tow. 

“Hey” I said, standing up when he got to the table.

“Hey” he said pulling me into a quick hug. 

“This is my family” I said. “My mom, Brenda, and my big brother Josh” I introduced.

“Its great to meet you guys” Norman said as I sat and gestured for him and Mingus to sit also.

“So, you’re the one my daughter was supposedly stalking?” she asked.

“She wasn’t stalking me” he chuckled. “Actually, it might have been borderline the other way around” he said sheepishly.

“Huh?” they both looked surprised.

“Oh, yea” Mingus laughed. “He used to ask me about her all the time.” 

“Alright, what’s really going on here?” My mother snapped. We all sat there looking at her in confusion.

“You really expect me to believe this?” she asked me before turning to Norman. “Is she paying you to do this for her?” 

“What? No!” Norman said surprised by my mom’s outburst.

“Yea, like I’m just supposed to believe that all this is true” she huffed. “I wont be made a fool of. Come talk to me when you’re ready to tell the truth” she said snatching her purse and walking out of the restaurant.


	16. Working it out

Hey guys, I want to apologize for disappearing for a while, I’ve been dealing with a lot lately, but I’m back now.  
Thank you all so much for the likes and comments while I was gone, I really appreciate it! And thank you all for being so patient while waiting for the next chapters.  
~•~•~•~•~  
I sighed and rubbed my face in frustration.

“Well, that was interesting” Josh chuckled. “Gotta give her props for creativity on that one.” 

“Riley, why was your mom so mad at you?” Mingus asked curiously. 

“A lot of reasons” I sighed as Norman grabbed my wrist to look at my hand.

“How did this happen?” He asked as he inspected my bruised hand.

“She went Mike Tyson on some guy’s face” Josh said giving me a serious look.

“What? Who?” Norman said looking pissed.

“That case worker guy” I sighed. “I got fired today and he was there, with this stupid, smug, self righteous attitude. Then he decided to follow me out of the office and run his damn mouth”

“Wait, you got fired today? Why the hell didn’t you call me?” He asked angrily.

“Because we both knew it was coming, its not like it was some big shock or anything.” I sighed. “Besides, you have Mingus, I wanted y’all to have a good afternoon.”

“That doesn’t matter Riley, I could have been there for you. You should have called me” he said with a frown.

“Sorry” I said softly as Norman gently held my hand, lightly grazing his thumb across my bruised knuckles.

“I’m sorry” Mingus said as he got up from his chair and wrapped me in a tight hug.

“Hey, don’t you go feeling sorry for me” I chuckled. “I’ll figure something out. I always do.” 

“That you do” Josh said smiling as the waitress brought our food and drinks. 

Josh told the waitress to just box up our mom’s food so he could bring it back to the hotel for her. Norman ordered drinks for himself and Mingus and another plate of cheese fries, but that’s all since he said they had eaten earlier. I picked at my food, not really in the mood to eat anymore. I always tried not to let mom get to me, but let’s face it, it still hurts hearing those things coming from your mom. After dinner I said bye to Josh and told him to text me tomorrow so I could spend time with him before they had to leave. 

I got a ride with Norman and Mingus back to Norman’s house, sitting quietly and listening to Mingus chatter about different things the whole time. I would nod and smile when he would talk to me, but my mind was stuck back at the restaurant with my mom. When we got back to the apartment I quickly dropped my things and excused myself to the bathroom. 

I shut the door behind me and looked into the mirror. My hair was starting to fall out of the bun so I went ahead and pulled it down, combing my fingers through it quickly to untangle it. I wasn’t sure why I was feeling so down tonight, it certainly wasn’t the first time I’d dealt with my mom being, well, herself. I stepped out of the bathroom and sat on the bed staring down at the floor blindly, replaying the conversation with my mom over and over again. I knew she thought I was a screw up and a total disappointment, but for her to think I’d actually pay Norman to say I wasn’t a crazy stalker...did she really think so lowly of me? I thought about how I lost my job, about that asshole Bryan and my poor bruised hand. The more I thought about what an absolutely horrible day it had been, the worse I felt.

I felt tears stinging my eyes and buried my face in my hands trying to push them back. I didn’t want to cry, not because of my mom or anyone else. I didn’t want to give in to the sinking feeling in my chest or the fear of what I was supposed to do now. I didn’t want to think about the years of college and thousands of dollars in student loan debt that just went completely to waste. As much as I didn’t want to worry about any of that, the reality of the situation suddenly came crashing down on me, and it was suffocating. The tears continued to pour down my cheeks as I sniffled and released a shaky breath. 

“Riley” Norman’s voice snapped me back to reality.

“Yea?” I asked, quickly wiping my face dry before turning to look at him. 

He walked over and sat next to me on the bed, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug.

“It’s gonna be okay” he said softly as I buried my face in his chest and cried. 

“What am I supposed to do now?” I sniffled. “She was right, all that time and hard work is completely wasted.”

“Don’t worry Riley” Mingus’ voice caught me by surprise. I looked up at the little blonde boy smiling at me. “You’re awesome, I know you’ll be able to find a new job soon.” 

I smiled back at him and pulled him in for a hug. “Thanks Mingus.”

“You’re gonna squeeze me to death!” He gasped dramatically. 

“Sorry” I laughed, releasing my hold on him. 

“Why don’t you go watch some TV” Norman said, ushering Mingus out of the room. 

“Okay” he sighed as he left the room. 

“Sorry for losing it like that” I said sheepishly. “I guess everything has just been piling up” I sighed. 

“I know, it’s ok” he chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. “You’ve been under a lot of stress lately” he said softly. 

“Yea” I sighed. I snuggled into him more, enjoying the security of his embrace.

A few minutes later we joined Mingus in the living room to watch TV for a while before we all went to bed. 

When I woke up the next morning I took a quick shower and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone. Not long after, Norman and Mingus came shuffling down the hallway still looking half asleep.

“mmm, something smells good” Mingus sighed peeking into the kitchen curiously.

“I made breakfast” I said handing him a plate so he could serve himself.

“I could get used to this” Norman’s husky voice in my ear sent a shiver through me as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Good Morning” I said giving him a quick kiss and handing him a cup of coffee.

“Mmm, I could really get used to this” he said taking a sip of the coffee.

We all sat down and ate breakfast together then Norman and Mingus headed off to shower and get ready for the day. Josh texted me while they were gone and we made plans to meet up to try and talk to mom again. I wasn’t holding out much hope for things to go any better than last night, but it couldn’t hurt to try again before they had to leave.

“Making plans?” Norman asked glancing at my phone curiously. 

“Yea” I sighed “I need to at least try and smooth things over with my mom before they leave” 

“Just don’t let her get to you ok?” he said playing with a piece of my hair “If she doesn’t want to listen, don’t force it. You can always try again once she’s calmed down more”

“Okay” I nodded with a smile.

“Good” he said pulling me in for a kiss.

Norman and Mingus made plans to go out and spend the day having fun together. I was glad too, they needed to have some bonding time alone every once in a while. I caught a cab and headed over to the hotel that my mom and Josh were staying in again. I felt my stomach twist as I stepped out of the cab and made my way inside and up to their room. I knocked on the door and waited for Josh to answer. 

“Hey Danny” Josh said pulling me into a quick hug “I talked her down a little for you, but she’s still gonna be tough to crack” he whispered to me quickly before letting go and ushering me inside. 

“You ready to go yet mom?” Josh called out as he shut the door.

“Ready to go? I thought we were gonna talk here?” I asked him curiously.

“She refused to eat last night so now she wants to go get some food” Josh rolled his eyes.

“Oh, okay” I sighed.

A few minutes later Mom was ready to go and we left the hotel to find a place to eat. My mom didn’t speak a word to me the whole way to the restaurant or while we waited for a table. She wouldn’t even glance in my direction until we were seated, and that was only because I was directly in front of her at the table. She continued to ignore me until after they had ordered and the food came.

“Okay Riley, let’s talk” she finally spoke once she was about half way through her food.

“Okay” I looked up at her expectantly. 

“Josh talked to me last night, and showed me proof that you weren’t lying” she sighed.

“Proof?” I glanced at Josh curiously.

He grinned mischievously and handed me his phone. It was a Google image search and there were tons of pictures of Norman and I together from the convention and a few other places. 

“Good old Google” he chuckled as I handed the phone back to him.

“This doesn’t change the fact that you lost your job Riley” she said sternly “All that time and money you spent on college is completely wasted. How are you gonna support yourself now? Bills don’t pay themselves you know.” 

“I know mom” I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to get another job, I just need time to look.”

“And what will you do to support yourself for the time being? I sure hope you’re not expecting Norman to pay your bills for you.”

“Seriously?” I asked my mom angrily. 

“Of course I’m serious!” She huffed “The man has a lot of money, it’s easy to become complacent Riley! You need to-”

“Why is it always about the money?” I raised my voice angrily, ignoring Josh shushing me. “Yea, he has money, I get that, but so what? I can count on one hand the amount of times Norman has paid for anything for me, and you know what, that’s OK! Because I don’t need him to buy things for me! I’m a grown ass person who can work for my own damn money and take care of myself just like everyone else! And if there’s something that I want, I’ll walk my happy ass down to the store and fucking buy it myself! I’m so sick of everyone acting like I think he is just a giant walking wallet!” I huffed angrily.

“Riley” she sighed. “I’m just trying to make sure you’re making smart decisions.”

“I’m not stupid mom, I know how to take care of myself. I have a savings account, there’s enough for me until I find another job” I said taking a sip of my drink. 

“I never said you were stupid” she replied angrily “But you have to admit, your track record of decision making speaks for itself”

“Alright, Alright!” Josh cut in “Can you two retract your claws long enough to at least agree that this specific matter is settled?”

I looked at my mother and nodded. “Fine” she said with a curt nod.

“Alright, good.” Josh said. “Now, about Christmas…”


	17. Brown Chicken Brown Cow

“Christmas?” I asked curiously.

“You are coming home, right?” he asked curiously.

“I was going to try if I have the money.”

“Good, here are my demands” he said pulling a folded paper from his pocket and handing it over to me. 

I chuckled as I unfolded the paper and read what he had written. Josh did this every year, he would write a ridiculously long list of “demands” that he wanted for Christmas. When we were kids the list was usually filled with different toys and sports equipment, but now they were usually full of foods that he wanted me to make for him.

“Josh, you’re gonna get fat if I make all this for you” I said.

“Fat and happy” he laughed patting his tummy.

“I’ll see what I can do” I chuckled.

After lunch I went with mom and Josh back to their hotel so they could get some rest before they had to leave. They were taking a late flight back tonight so they could be home in time for church in the morning. If there was one thing my parents were deadly serious about, it was church. 

“Bye Danny” Josh said squeezing me in a bone crushing hug. 

“Y’all are sure that you don’t want me to come to the airport with you tonight?” 

“Yea, we’ll be fine” he said glancing over at mom.

“See you soon?” I asked curiously.

“Yea” she nodded and even offered a small smile.

After I said goodbye to my family I decided to go to my apartment to check the mail and pick up some more clothes for the rest of the week. I waved down a cab and told the driver where to go, then leaned back in my seat to relax for a few minutes.

When we made it to my apartment building I quickly paid the driver and headed inside. When I checked my mail I was surprised to see a small package stuffed into my mailbox also. I was pretty curious what it was since I wasn’t expecting any packages. As soon as I got inside my apartment I tossed the other mail aside and ripped the box open. 

I laughed at myself when I finally saw what was inside the box, The Walking Dead on DVD. With everything that had been going on lately, I had completely forgotten that Norman had ordered them for me. I set them on the counter with my keys and phone so that I’d remember to take them with me. 

When I turned around to go to my bedroom I was completely surprised by the look of my apartment. I was so caught up in opening that box that I didn’t even notice the furniture and clothes everywhere. All of my bedroom furniture had been moved into the living room. My mattress was leaned against the far wall of the room and the bed frame had been disassembled and stacked neatly next to it. All of my clothes from the closet had been moved and stacked on the couch too. 

“Wow” I mumbled as I moved through the obstacle course of furniture to grab the extra clothes I came here for. 

I found an old dinosaur backpack that Oliver had given me several years ago and threw the clothes into it. I went to the kitchen and tossed the DVDs into the bag and zipped it up. I set the bag on the counter and glanced towards my bedroom curiously. 

I wonder how much they have gotten done, it’s only been a few days so it can’t be too much yet. I peeked inside and gasped at the sight of my room. The drywall had been removed from the entire wall that had the leak and all the carpet had already been removed too. I stepped inside and noticed that the studs in the wall were still moist and so was the floor.

“Snooping?” I turned quickly when a man’s voice came from the doorway.

“Kinda” I smiled when I realized it was the maintenance man. He was standing in the doorway holding a cylinder shaped machine in his hands.

“It’s a construction heater” he said when he noticed me looking at what he was holding.

“Construction heater?” I asked curiously.

“Its to help dry everything out quicker so we can get in here and start putting it all back together again” he explained as he plugged in the heater and turned it on.

“Okay” I nodded, stepping aside as he positioned the heater towards the side of the room that needed to be dried out. 

“Well, I just came to grab a few things, so I’ll get out of your way now” I said “Thank you again, for doing all of this” I added quickly before stepping out of the room. I went back to the kitchen and gathered my things and left for Norman’s apartment. 

When I stepped inside Norman's apartment I was surprised to see that no one was home yet. I guess Norman and Mingus were really enjoying their day out together. I set my things down next to the door, pulled off my jacket and hung it on the coat hook. 

I decided to call and talk to Oliver since I felt like I hadn’t seen him in forever. I sat on the couch and dialed Melissa’s number and waited for her to answer.

“RILEY!” Oliver’s excited voice made me laugh.

“Hey Oli” 

“I’ve missed you so much! Why didn’t you come see me this weekend?” He asked me sadly.

“I had to take care of some very important business the last few days, but I’m all done now.” I answered feeling bad for not calling him sooner. 

“Ok! Will you come see me tomorrow then?” he asked excitedly.

“Of course! As long as it’s ok with your parents” 

“Mooom!” I heard him yell for Melissa and excitedly ask for her permission. “She said yes!” he cheered in excitement.

“Awesome, I’ll be there before lunch so we can spend all day together okay?” 

“Okay!” he replied happily. “I gotta go eat dinner now, but momma wants to talk to you” he said and I heard some shuffling sounds.

“Hey Riley” Melissa’s voice came through the phone. 

“Hey Melissa”

“Is everything alright sweetie?” She asked curiously. “Its not like you to miss a weekend with Oliver like this.” 

“I’m ok, just been dealing with a lot of stuff the last few days” I answered. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked curiously.

“Sure, I’ll tell you tomorrow though. It’s kind of a long story and I don’t want to hold you up for dinner” I said.

“Okay, see you tomorrow then. Bye” 

“Bye” I hung up and put the phone down on the table. 

I sighed and stretched my arms over my head trying to decide of I wanted to make something to eat or if I just wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner. Norman and Mingus probably got dinner somewhere already so I decided to just eat a sandwich. When I was done eating I cleaned up my mess and decided that I’d take a nice hot shower since I was still alone.

I went to the bathroom and started the shower before undressing. I stepped into the shower and sighed as the hot water poured over me and relaxed my muscles. I took my time washing and conditioning my hair then washing myself, not in any rush to leave the relaxing steam and hot water. 

After a while I finally decided I was done and stepped out the shower and dried myself off. I towel dried my hair then wrapped the towel around myself and left the bathroom, nearly having a heart attack when I saw Norman sitting on the bed playing on his phone. 

“Shit” I breathed “You startled me.”

Norman glanced up at me with a mischievous grin and put his phone away.

“What’s up?” I asked curiously as he stood up and stepped closer to me. 

His blue eyes burned bright as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into an intense kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and grabbed a handful of his messy brown hair as he pulled me closer and deepened the kiss. I sighed softly as Norman’s hands began trailing down my body, but paused when a sudden thought struck me.

“Wait, where’s Mingus?” I asked curiously.

Norman chuckled and kissed my neck before mumbling in my ear “He’s at his mom’s, she came home early”

His husky voice and warm breath sent shivers through me and I melted in his arms as he continued trailing burning kisses down my neck. Normans hands trailed down to my hips and he pulled me even closer. A wave of desire rolled over me and I moaned when I felt how hard he was. A sudden overwhelming need came over me. I needed to feel him against me, all of him, and those clothes were just in the way. 

I pulled back from him and gave him a quick soft kiss. A look if confusion crossed his face as I took a step back from him.

“Riley?” he asked curiously.

I smiled up at him and pulled my towel loose, letting it fall to the floor. His eyes darkened with desire as I stepped closer to him. I slid Norman’s shirt up and he quickly finished pulling it off and tossed it aside. He pulled me into another kiss and I moaned as his hands caressed my naked body. I unbuttoned his pants and he kicked them off as we moved over to the bed.

~•~•~•~  
Well, that was super awkward to write with two toddlers on my lap watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse... 


	18. Sunday Funday

Norman and I were laying together in the dark, our naked bodies tangled in the sheets. I laid my head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat and petting the cat who had jumped up and snuggled into his side.

“Where have you been hiding all day?” I chuckled as I scratched the cat’s head gently. He looked up at me with his big eyes and purred loudly.

Norman’s phone buzzed and lit up the darkness, something it had done several times already. He glanced over at it and chuckled softly.

“What’s so funny?” I asked curiously.

“You’re going viral” he said grabbing his phone from the bedside table.

“what?” I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Norman pulled up a video on YouTube with the title “Norman Reedus' Girlfriend blows up in crowded Restaurant” and pressed play. And there I was, yelling at my mom earlier today at that restaurant. You could only see the backs of mom and Josh’s heads from the angle of the video and I was grateful for that, especially if this was going viral.

“Uuugh” I whined and buried my face in Norman’s chest in embarrassment. Norman chuckled and wrapped me in a comforting hug. 

“Sorry, having people in all of your business is kind of a package deal with me” he sighed.

“Its okay. I guess I just need to watch how I act in public, which honestly, I should just do anyway” I said.

“Lets get some sleep” Norman pulled me closer and gently kissed my forehead.

I woke up the next morning still wrapped in Norman’s arms. I peeked over him at the clock on the table and noticed it was almost 11 am.

“Shit!” I gasped as I bolted up, accidentally startling Norman awake. I threw back the covers and rushed into the bathroom. I tied my hair up on a sloppy bun and jumped into the shower to wash up really quick. 

“Is everything ok?” Norman’s concerned voice came from the bathroom doorway.

“I promised Oli that I’d go see him today and I over slept. I was supposed to be there already” I said as I turned off the water and grabbed a towel to quickly dry myself off. I wrapped the towel around myself and stepped out of the shower. Norman was standing in the doorway wearing a just a pair of sweat pants and an amused expression.

“What?” I asked curiously.

“You’re adorable when you’re flustered” he chuckled and kissed my forehead. 

Norman left the room and I quickly threw on some clothes and finished getting ready. Norman was in the kitchen making coffee when I stepped out of the room. I quickly finished grabbing my things and walked up to him.

“Have fun” he smiled and pulled me in for a quick kiss “Tell Oliver I said Hi.”

“Ok” I smiled back up at him. “See you later” I said as I left the apartment.

I caught a cab and texted Melissa as soon as we were moving to tell her I was on my way. When I got their building I paid the driver and headed up to their apartment.

“Riley!” Oliver called when he answered the door. “You’re late!” he said accusingly.

“I know Oli, I’m so sorry! I overslept” I explained.

“Alright” he said wrapping his arms around me tightly.

“Alright Oliver” Melissa said “Come eat your lunch, then you can have Riley all to yourself” she said guiding him to the table where his food was waiting. Once Oliver was seated Melissa and I moved to the living room and sat on the couch together.

 

“Okay Riley, what’s going on with you lately?” Her voice laced with concern.

“Well, a lot actually” I sighed. “I lost my job on Friday” 

“What?” she asked incredulously “Why? What happened?” 

“Well, Mingus’ Mom wasn’t really happy with mine and Norman’s friendship, so she complained to the Superintendent.” I said solemnly.

“What? Seriously?”

“Yea, so they put me on a probationary period and told me to stay away from Norman and Mingus or I’d lose my license. So I tried to keep my distance from them, but it didn’t really work” I laughed and Melissa gave me a knowing smile.

“Anyway, I guess they weren’t finding much dirt on me so this case worker called me and asked me a bunch of weird questions and completely twisted around everything I was saying. Then apparently he called my parents and ran his mouth in hopes of getting information on me.”

“That can’t have gone well” Melissa rolled her eyes, knowing all too well how my mother could be.

“It didn’t” I sighed. “I got fired on Friday, because apparently the entire city’s hobby is following Norman around with cameras.” I huffed, still annoyed about the video from yesterday. 

“Then my mom and brother flew in that night and that was a huge fight” I said rubbing my forehead “then another fight yesterday before we finally came to some sort of understanding.”

“They aren’t still here are they?” she asked warily.

“No, no. They left last night. You know how she is about church” I rolled my eyes at the irony.

“Jeez Riley” Melissa sighed.

“Oh yea, and my apartment flooded the other day so I can’t stay there for two weeks!” I huffed. “I swear I must have kicked puppies in a past life or something.” 

“Wait, so where are you staying then?” Melissa asked with a mischievous grin. I smiled back at her, knowing she already knew the answer.

“Oh my gosh Riley!” she squealed like a teenage girl. “So that’s why you were late this morning!” She smiled suggestively. I felt my face go bright red and looked out the window quickly. 

“Oh! I knew it!” she said yanking me into a tight hug. “This is so exciting!” she squealed. 

“What’s so exciting?” Oliver asked curiously as he walked into the room.

“Just grown up stuff” Melissa answered quickly. “Alright, I’ll leave you two be. Have fun” she said walking out of the living room.

“So, what do you want to do today?” I asked Oliver

“Video games” he said excitedly. 

“Why did I expect any different” I laughed as he quickly set up the game. 

We sat on the living room floor playing video games for a few hours before he finally decided to do something different. He quickly pulled me into his room, saying he had something he wanted to show me. He sat me on his bed and demanded that I stay put until he got back. I smiled as he scurried out of the room and glanced around at the posters on his walls. There were some for a few video games of course and a few Walking Dead posters too. I chuckled and snapped a picture of one with Norman on it and texted it to him. A few minutes later Oliver came back in holding one of those thick catalogues that they always send out around the holidays. 

“I know what I want for Christmas!” he said as he flipped through the pages.

“Oh yea?” I looked over curiously as he found the page he was looking for.

“Look” he said pointing to a picture of a bright red digital camera.

“A camera?” 

“Yea! I have always wanted one” he said in a serious tone. “I think it would be cool to have my very own camera, I want to be able to take pictures of whatever I want without mom complaining that I’m taking all the memory on her camera.” 

“Wow, you’ve really thought this through haven’t you” I said looking over the details listed about the camera.

“Yea, and look” he said pointing to the list “this one is rechargeable, so I won’t need to keep buying batteries for it.” 

I glanced over at him surprised by how passionate he was about this and couldn’t help but wonder when he had grown up so much. In my mind, he was still the little kid that would always want piggyback rides and would cling to me every time I saw him. Now here he was, growing up in the blink of an eye. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked curiously.

“Nothing” I smiled down at him and pulled him into a tight hug.

“You’re so weird” he laughed , shaking me off of him. “So, what to you think?” he asked holding the catalogue up again.

“Well, I’ll see what I can do” I said with a grin.

After Oliver was done telling me about his camera we went back to the living room and watched a few movies together until Melissa told Oliver it was time for dinner.

“Hey Oli, I’m gonna get going okay” I said pulling him into a hug. 

“OK” he said, sounding a little disappointed.

“Hey, why don’t I try and see if we can hang out with Mingus next weekend?” I asked him.

“Ok!” he said smiling up at me.

After saying goodbye to Melissa and Oliver, I left the building and headed back to Norman’s place.


End file.
